A Puzzle Of Three Pieces
by TheCorruptedTeacups
Summary: After taking a step to changer her life, Josephine "Josie" Desmarias is met with more than she expected. Double what she expected to be exact. Working to rid herself of the restrictions implemented at her prior school, and the fear she has of change, Josie figures out exactly who her heart wants her to be, and exactly who her heart wants her to be with. Can she love enough for two?
1. Time May Change Me

It was pouring, the raindrops drumming against the metal sides of the train cars as the black smoke from the engine joined the dark clouds above. It was just like any other day in London for most people. But then again the passengers on the train were not most people. Inside the train students were buzzing with excitement for a new school year, readying their cloaks and biting down on Caldron Cakes as the green grass of the countryside whizzed by them.

As the young girl sat on the train, she realized she was leaving her past life behind her. Leaving all she had known, just to try and find who she really was. So, as she rattled down the tracks, and sat alone in her cabin, she wondered if she really would figure out who she really was inside, and if that girl that she'd kept hidden for so long would be allowed to blossom at her new home. She hoped Hogwarts would come to be the warm, inviting place her cousin had claimed it to be.

It was dark that day, fitting for the transition into the unknown she thought. She was not surprised that no-one had chosen to join her in her cabin. After all, she had just transferred from Beauxbatons, spoke with an accent, would be going into 5th year and was yet to be spoken. She was sure the accent had the least to do with it, but the reaction of a short ginger girl to her speaking gave her less confidence that her accent would be more appreciated than criticized. Her expectations were broken when two boys walked by her open door, paused and poked their heads in to look at her.

"Hello" they bother said in unison. "Who might you be?" one asked. "And why are you alone?" asked the other. The girl looked up, raising a brow and looking at the two. She was immediately struck by their resemblance, and then by their bright ginger hair. Her mouth twitched in a smile as she nodded to them, her manners getting the best of her. "I am Josephine Desmarais, it's a pleasure to meet you. " She struggled through her accent, trying to sound clear enough for them to understand her as much as, and criticize her as little as, possible. They looked at each other.

"Oi, she's a transfer isn't she?" One said to the other. "Seems like it, and from somewhere along the Seine it appears." As he responded, he plopped down on the seat across from her, crossing his arms and grinning, the other following suit. Josephine turned a bit pink, not used to people being so up front and relaxed during a first greeting. She awkwardly tugged down her skirt, afraid they would notice the curves of her stomach and legs. She wished she would of work baggier clothes. Now, she didn't think they would be attracted to her; it was that Josephine was not the thinnest girl in the world, and she tended to get quite a bit of grief about it from her mother's family and her past classmates. She was never really confident in her looks, mostly because of her mother's beauty and the large population of Veela blooded witches at Beauxbatons. She thought herself plain when she glanced in the glass of the window her "pondi blue" as her mother called them, eyes set into pale skin staring back at her from under sharp strait light brown bangs. Her short and flipped out hair swung as her turned her head to look at them, taking her bottom lip between her teeth and chewing on it. They just grinned at her, a sparkle in their eye. It was devious, cunning, and something she never saw before.

"He's Fred." One said, nodding to the other, who spoke in unison "He's George", and they both finished with a proud "Weasley" and a nod. She couldn't help but crack a smile, looking them over. They were completely identically in appearance, maybe a little different around the eyes. But besides that, everything was the same. From their shaggy ginger hair, their freckled skin, their wide shoulders, long legs, nose, lips and everything in between, they were identical. "It's a pleasure." She said softly, darting her gaze back and forth between theirs. "So where you from?" "And why are you here?" they asked. She furrowed her brow at their curiosity. "Uhm...Chateauroux actually, and I'm transferring from Beauxbatons Academy. My cousin is a Hogwarts student, a Ravenclaw I believe, and his talk of the school made me want to attend." _Be polite Josephine, or else they might not like you_, her mother's voice echoed in her ear. "Cool." They both said together. "But you have to be sorted into Gryffindor" said one, his voice slightly higher than his brothers. "Or else your life will be utterly pathetic." She tilted her head. "And why is that?" She questioned, half knowing the answer. "Cause you'd be in our house of course." They said matter -of -factly. She laughed, shaking her head a bit. "I'll keep that in mind."

They grinned at her, and she felt her cheeks heat up a built. She still didn't quite understand why they were talking to her, but she was glad they were. She had never really met anyone like them before, but she very much enjoyed their personality. They were charming, confident, and utterly amusing. The devious glint in their eyes made her feel warm, like she was going to belong. As her nerves faded, the train jerked to a stop, sending her falling off the seat and onto her knee's as the lights flickered off.

"Merde….what was that?" she muttered, forgetting herself and allowing her French to slip through. Getting herself to her feet, she leaned herself out of the doorway, looking down the hallway at the faces of other students. Pulling her wand out of her jacket pocket, she lit up the hallway trying to tell exactly what may be going on. But as the train car rocked, she tumbled backwards into one of them as he fell onto the seat, resulting in her falling over his lap as her wand bounced to the floor and the light went out.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm so sorry…" she said quickly, righting herself and running her fingers through her hair. "Well it's not your fault now is it?" said the one she had landed on, a laugh to his voice. "Unless you can control the train!" chimed the other. She smiled shyly, picking up the 6'' Cherry wood wand, and placing it into her bag.

Minutes later, the lights flickered back on and the train began to move again. "You should change into your robes." Said one. "Unless you want to be sorted in that." Said the other. "We surely wouldn't mind. " They winked at her and left with that, closing the door behind them. She flushed, and stood to close the blinds of the cabin, glancing down the hallway to watch them disappear into a cabin four doors down. Shutting the blinds, she changed into her Hogwarts uniform, making sure she looked just right. She was going to make this work. She was going to be happy, she was sure of it.

Stepping onto the platform, she traced the swirls on her wand in her pocket to ease her nerves, looking around at all the kids her age heading towards a group of carriages while the first years gathered around a very large and wild looking man. She didn't know what to do, and she started to panic a little. Suddenly a hand tapped her arm. "Miss Desmarais?" a very small man with glasses asked from below her. "Oui, that is me." She answered. "Follow me." He said, leading her towards the front of the carriages. She boarded the carriage after him, and it immediately took off, leaving the rest behind her. "The Headmaster has asked that we take you a few minutes ahead of the other students so you could be briefly filled in on how things will work with your case. " Said the man, peering at her over his glasses. She nodded, her hair bouncing. "Of course, I understand. From what I can tell this doesn't happen very often"

They reached the castle in minutes, the stone walls rising above her, taking her breath away as her heart soared with excitement. Stepping out of the carriage, Josephine followed the small man through a set of very large doors. Her mind could not keep up with her eyes as they darted everywhere, taking in everything they possibly could. She was led into a small secluded room, in which very harsh looking women stood in flowing green robes that stared at her through spectacles. Josephine had the urge to curtsy to the woman for good measure, but decided against it. The man left the room, heading through two great doors that she only saw a glimpse of light through, accompanied by a low roar of voices.

"Miss Desmarias I assume?" The woman asked, looking at her expectantly. Her voice was kinder than her appearance. "Yes madam." Josephine answered, her voice soft and shaking. "I would like to tell you how today is going to go. Since you have changed schools, you are lucky that most schools of our nature center around the same curriculum, meaning you will be merged with the rest of the 5th year students. But you will need to be sorted, and you will need to select your extra classes. Now, you will be sorted first, before the first years. Once you are sorted you will need to go join your house. After dinner tonight I would like to see you in my classroom, classroom 1B to choose your classes. Is that understood Miss Desmarias?" The woman spoke very sternly, looking at her as she spoke. "Y…Yes madam." Josie said, clearing her throat. The woman's gaze softened as she looked over Josephine. "Do not have fear child, you will be fine. If the Headmaster has allowed you to transfer here, then he has faith in you." The woman's words gave her comfort, and Josephine smiled softly. "Thank you madam."

As the first years filed into the room behind her, the woman gestured for Josephine to step closer to her, ahead of the rest of them. Looking down on the small faces of the new arrivals, she felt at ease. She realized that she was not the only one who was starting something new, that everyone who was at Hogwarts had once been standing where she is now, even the stern woman next to her. But as Professor McGonagall, as she introduced herself, gave the first years the opening speech, she felt the fingers of anxiety tightening on her throat. But she shook them off, standing up straight and placing a small smile on her face._ "I am going to be okay."_ She told herself as she bounced on her toes._ "As long as I am myself, I will be okay. Just be yourself._" It echoed through her mind, the last words her father had spoken to her before she boarded the train._ Just be yourself._ As the doors to the Great Hall opened, she vowed that she would be herself, and only herself now that her feet were not pinched into tight heeled shoes and satin blue socks.


	2. Begging For Change To Get Home

**((This chapter is shorter than the last, but I promise they will get longer as the story progresses. I was having a hard time with this one for some reason, at least the bit after she was sorted. I hope it okay. Its kind of partially a filler chapter...kinda terrible to say that in the first two chapters huh? Hope you enjoy it. And yes, there is another oc in this chapter. Its my friends character. ))**

Her first steps into the Great Hall would be some of the most important steps she ever took. As she stepped in line behind Professor McGonagall, she felt her heart leap into her throat and throbbed in time with her footsteps. The room around her was beautiful, the ceiling above bewitched to look like the clouded sky above the castle, thousands upon thousands of candles floating above her head, illuminating the faces of the students watching them. A warmth filled her from her toes to the end of her flipped hair, a grin spreading across her face as she marveled at the glory of the room around her. The high ceiling made her feel small, a feeling that she didn't dislike, since everyone probably felt as small as she did. The gnawing nervousness in her stomach was kept at bay by her joy, even though she felt the stare of hundreds on the back of her neck, causing the hair there to stand on end. As she stopped at the front of the room, she turned to look behind her for a familiar face, her cousin, or the boys she had met on the train, but her vision blurred as she felt tears pool in her eyes. She could not pin point the source of them, but it would be wise to assume they were from the joy she held, or the nervousness she hid. In the back of her mind she could hear the dull murmur of someone speaking, but all she could hear was the swirl of questions, worries and excitement that twisted in her mind.

"Josephine Desmarias!" Her head turned to the voice of Professor McGonagall who had rolled out a very long piece of parchment, calling her name to have her come to the front. As Josephine hesitantly stepped towards the stool and the ratty old hat in front of her, she wondered how long she had been lost in thought, and if McGonagall had called for her more than once. She slowly sat down, the stool creaking as she did. Her chest tightened as she felt the hat slide down over her ears, the fabric rustling. It was dead silent in the hall. Soon after it had settled, a soft voice in her ear caused her to jump.

_ "A little old for this aren't we? Well no matter, a house can be chosen at any age. Hmm…you're brave, yes very brave for making such a change dear. But then there are the nerves. A little worried aren't we? Where to put you…where…you could do well in…no…there's a better choice than that."_ Her eyes drifted towards a table to her left as she caught a flash of red hair leaning out from the rest of the black shrouded crowd. Two flashes. The voice continued._ "No, no, I think the answer is really quite clear."_ She bit down on her lip, closing her eyes as she stopped breathing. **_"Gryffindor!"_** the hat called out loudly, soon afterwards being lifted from atop her head. She grinned, taking in a deep breath and stepping off the stool, almost skipping towards the table that had since erupted in applause, a few whistles breaking the roar. One dark haired boy reached out his hand to meet hers, another older looking girl patting her on the back as she walked past. She took a seat next to a girl with sandy blonde hair who was talking to a curly haired boy with crooked teeth. The sorting continued on, name after name being called as more and more students joined their house. As Josephine looked around to find her cousin, hoping to catch his eye, she noticed two identical red heads sitting a few chairs down on the opposite side, besides a dark haired boy in glasses and another, ganglier, ginger boy.

After sorting had finished, the Hogwarts choir stepped in front of the students to sing a song very fitting for such a school, large toads accompanying them though the lyrics. Josephine enjoyed the music, the whimsy of the castle, its students and traditions slowly melting away the prim and proper ways she had been taught. When the song had ended, she clapped politely, smiling as the headmaster gave a short speech. And with the closing of the speech, the feast began, food appearing before her in the blink of an eye. As mountains upon mountains of food unfolded before her, her eyes widened and she grinned widely, immediately piling food onto a plate, forgetting any manners she may have been taught. "You look like you've never seen food before. "said the gangly red head sitting across from her thought a mouthful of food. The frizzy haired girl next to him elbowed him in the side, curling her lip at the gravy smeared down his chin. Josephine smiled, laughing a bit despite the nagging fear that he was judging her. Though with his display, she highly doubted it. "Well, the last school I attended was a little too attentive to the "figure" of its students. They do not have food like this there." She said, popping a roasted baby potato into her mouth with a smile. "So you're from Beauxbatons? I've read about the school." questioned the girl across from her with the frizzy hair, placing her hands into her lap. Josephine nodded, covering her mouth as she finished chewing. "Oui, I am. My name is Josephine. It's a pleasure to meet you..uhm.." she trailed off, not knowing any of their names besides the twins. "Hermione. Hermione Granger. "Said the girl bluntly. "Ron Weasley." Mumbled the boy next to her through a mouthful of pie. The dark haired boy said nothing. He was seemingly preoccupied with something, so she didn't bother him. He seemed to have enough on his mind right now.

She reached for another bit of bread, watching the boy across from her make a big deal in retelling his family's vacation to Egypt. But as she blindly reached for more food, her hand accidentally bumped into another which retracted quite quickly. "I'm sorry!" squeaked the sandy blonde next to her, turning to look up at Josephine. "It's alright." Josephine said, smiling sweetly. She looked at the girl, since she hadn't really done so when she sat down. The girl has pretty blonde hair, with very blunt bangs that almost hid her brown eyes. "What's your name?" The girl's eyes widened at the question. "I…I'm Bijou Lemay, I'm a 3rd year..." She said softly. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Josephine answered, returning to eating and listening to Ron's story. She was a little upset when the twin red heads, whom she assumed to be his be his brothers, leaned down the table and snatched the paper from him and joked that he was going to bore all the first years and the new girl out of their minds before they'd even gotten to the dormitories. Looking up and down the table as she ate, Josephine couldn't help but feel at home.

After she had completely stuffed herself to the brim, having eaten more food than she ever has, Josephine exited the Great Hall after the Headmasters speech to the first years. Following the yet **_another_ **red headed boy, she was almost to the staircase when she realized McGonagall had asked her to see her after supper. Looking around for someone to help her, she quickly caught the sandy blonde, Bijou exiting the hall behind the rest of her house. Josephine gently touched her arm as she passed; causing the girl to jump so high Josephine feared her shoes came off. "Excuse me, but could you tell me where classroom 1B is? Professor McGonagall asked to see me." She could tell the girl was struggling to understand her as she spoke the larger words in her accent, but she understood her none the less. The girl nodded, fiddling with her fingers. "Sure, I'll lead you there. You might want to pay attention so you know where the class is though…" And with that the girl headed off down a corridor, Josephine following close behind. The halls twisted and turned, doors appearing almost out of no-where at all and disappearing without a trace. Finally Bijou led her to a door that was cracked just an inch, light streaming through it. "There you go!" said the girl cheerfully. "Good luck finding your way back!" Josephine nodded, saying a small thanks before stepping into the room and closing the door behind her.


	3. The Name Game

_**((We're getting there guys I promise. Short chapter is short, but I thought it ended in a good place.))**_

The next morning Josephine woke up with a very large stomach ache and immensely heavy eyelids. Rolling herself out of bed, her toes winced at the cold wooden floor, crying out for the warmth of her quilt. She struggled to get dressed, wanting nothing more than to curl back into her blanket and read the book she had fallen asleep with. Pulling on her uniform, she was grateful for sweater vests, because the gaps between her shirt buttons were far too wide to be normal. As she slipped on her shoes and scrunched her socks around her ankles, she heard a thunder of footsteps from the boy's dormitory echoing down their staircase and up the girls. Her fingers running through her hair to tame it, she headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

The bag her father gave her before she boarded the train dug into her shoulder, the dark leather bending under the weight of her books, parchment and quills. Josephine sat down at the end of a table, watching the clouds roll by over head as she sipped a cup of tea and picked at a plate of eggs. A loud and cheerful voice called out a good morning behind her, and she turned to look at the person she knew to be its owner. The broad shouldered Ravenclaw was making his way down his table, talking happily to people as he passed. Waving her hand to catch his attention, she caught his eye and smiled. Her cousin quickly rushed over to sit with her at her table, throwing his long legs over the bench to straddle it next to her.

Paxton Lefay was a very large boy, his bone structure seemingly set wider than a normal person. His nose was extremely crooked; having been broken and re-set so many times it just remained bent. "Mornin'!" He said cheerfully, green eyes twinkling under dirty blonde curls. She smiled, turning herself to face him. "I tried to find you last night, but I didn't see you anywhere." Though she was so overwhelmed last night it was a miracle she found her own feet. Paxton grinned down at her, chipped teeth gleaming. "I was..uh…preoccupied." he responded, rocking back and forth. Josephine's eyes rolled so extravagantly it was almost painful. Paxton was always after the tail of some poor student, thinking he was in love every other week. "Well hopefully you're not preoccupied when the time comes that I need help desperately!" She threw the back of her hand to her forehead for emphasis, causing him to snicker. "You'll be alright. Now, you've seen me, you're not in mortal danger, and I have to go try and find the book I need for first period, I've seemed to have misplaced it." And with that the sixth year scurried off, grabbing a piece of toast and leaving her alone again.

Soon enough the entire school has jammed themselves into the hall, and the room roared with the sounds of excited voices. As the heads of house passed out their school schedules, Josephine felt someone sit on either side of her, leaning in to look at her classes. "Ghoul studies?" asked a voice to her left. "Ancient runes?" That one came from her right. "Why choose those?" Looking to either side of her Josephine found the twins looking back at her with curious looks. "I thought they sounded interesting." She said simply, folding her schedule and placing it into her bag. "I studied Ancient Runes before, it seemed like an easy choice…" she finished, her voice trailing off as she became unsure of herself. Her chest turned hot under her tie, red splotches probably appearing from embarrassment. They both shrugged, reaching for food and filling a plate each.

"Are these prats bothering you?" Josephine looked up towards the dark haired girl that was now seated across from her. "No, not at all." Her voice was quieter than it was when talking to her cousin, her excitement dying down. "Good, tell me if they do, I need a reason to not feel bad for out flying them." She said, grinning. One of them threw a berry at her, ducking out of the way when she threw one back. "Oi, calm down Angelina. She's met us before, her name's Josephine. "The girl who she was assuming was called Angeline looked at her for confirmation, which she gave with a nod as she took a drink of her juice. "Yeah, she was even in my lap on the train!" Sputtering on her drink, Josephine gave him a shocked look. They both just grinned, chuckling at the juice on her chin. "I fell!" she said, loudly enough to make people turn their head. "We know. " they said together. Angelina rolled her eyes, getting up from the table. "Well I'm going to meet Alicia in the common room. Good luck." With a small smile and a glance at the twins, she walked off, hair flowing behind her.

Josephine glanced at the two boys on either side of her, wondering why they were there. The looked her age, the must have people they'd rather spend their morning around. They seemed outgoing and charming enough to attract many friend, girlfriends even. But perhaps they just wanted to talk to her because she was new; they had shown interest on the train after all. Or she thought they did at least, they remembered her name.

Suddenly remembering their names, she wondered if there was any way to tell them apart. "Which one is which?" she asked, turning to look at both of them in turn. "Which one is which what?" They exclaimed at the same time. "What?" Her brain tried to keep up with their comment. "You said it." They replied. Shaking her head with a smile, she asked which one was Fred and which on was George. "We won't tell." One said. "But you can guess." Said the other. "What if I can't?" Josephine asked, quirking an eyebrow with a sudden spike in confidence. "Then you'll never know." Pursing her lips, she looked at the both of them, analyzing them for anything that wasn't completely identical. After a minute of observation she concluded that there was a difference, she just couldn't pick out what it exactly was. As she looked them over they watched her, trying not to laugh as one made a face at the other when her back was turned. Shaking her head, she went back to her breakfast. "I'll tell you when I figure it out." She said, pushing her eggs into a pile and placing some toast with jam on the plate. The one on the right leaned on the table. "And when, exactly, will that be?". She smiled a bit. "I'll let you know."

Later in the day Josephine found herself sitting in her first class at Hogwarts, Ghoul Studies. As much as she enjoyed the school, she was sure she would enjoy the weekends more. Her curiosity was itching to explore the castle, maybe pulling small pranks on the girls in her dormitory. Josephine liked to prank others, mostly her father. It was never anything big, and most of the time it didn't work. But she found it highly entertaining and liked the planning that went into it. It was completely out of line for a girl of "her upraising" as her past professors had so often told her, but she decided that was exactly the reason why she liked it.

Soon enough into the first lecture, she found herself bored by subjects that she'd covered before, and started to absentmindedly sketch on the corner of her parchment. First a flower, then a bear, a tree, a broomstick, all simple things to keep her mind busy and awake while the professor droned on. _"At least I only have two classes today."_ She thought, swirling her quill in circles on the parchment. Lost in her thoughts she didn't realize the class had ended until the girl next to her bumped her chair as she got up. Quickly standing up and packing up her things, Josephine headed down the corridor back towards the Great Hall for lunch, her stomach grumbling unhappily as she stopped to peer at the forest through a window, spying two red-headed boys being chased away from it by a scraggly looking man and a cat, the sound of laughter floating up from below.


	4. Some Time Together

**_((Hey guys! Sorry for all the shorter chapters, its finals week. I'm dying to write and really want to post a chapter every day or at least every other day, because I have a feeling this is going to be a long fanfic, since I plan to have it cover from Prisoner of Azkaban to The Deathly Hallows and also have two different endings. If you would please review, I would love to get feedback. This is my first fanfic in 4+ years, so I would love to be able to get some feedback on it. I've quit to many fanfics because I gave up or lost confidence, and I adore this story so much I don't want to do it here as well. Please and thank you!))_**

The first two week had finished, Josephine had been at Hogwarts for eleven days, and she could not have been happier. Even the homework she had to do excited her, because she was learning somewhere where she didn't feel restricted. She was struggling a little with the reading and writing, her English better spoken than in writing, but she solved that quickly by having her cousin look over any written work she had before she turned it in. The only problem she was having was making friends, having been so caught up in her school work and doing any slight catching up that she completely forgot about it. The girls in her dorm were nice enough, but she didn't talk to them much. One of them was in Quidditch, the other in choir, the other constantly with her boyfriend, so they didn't stay in the room for very long except to sleep.

She had sat in the table next to the twins during Transfiguration on Wednesday, and discovered she had most of her classes with them, the only ones without them Divination, Ancient Runes and Ghoul Studies. They made the classes much more interesting, that was for sure. During Potions on Monday they somehow managed to blow up a caldron five tables away from them, much to the dismay of the poor Slytherin girl who was covered in an unfinished Draught of Peace. Josephine could not stop laughing and almost knocked over their own draught, much to the dismay of her partner. The twin's antics and her laughter put all three of them in detention, which was spent cleaning up the mess they had made earlier in the day.

Waking up around noon after sleeping in on Saturday, Josephine dressed in more normal clothes, having seen students walking around the grounds in normal clothing as she glanced out her window. Tugging her sweater down over her stomach, and making sure the tights under her skirt had no holes in them, she headed down for lunch. The common room was empty when she passed through it, but as she stepped through the portal she could hear the echoes of voices from downstairs. As she headed towards them, she was distracted by the moving paintings on the walls, and did not notice the odd substance on the landing. She nearly fell forward as her feet stuck, catching herself on the banister before she hit the floor face first. Looking down as she righted herself, she found her shoes to be surrounded by dark purple, thick goo. Trying to pull her shoes out of it, she failed to notice two more pairs standing in front of her. That was, until there was the sound of someone clearing their throat above her head. Looking up, she found the ginger twins standing in front of her, both with amused yet crestfallen expressions.

"Sorry about that. " "We were hoping to catch our brother." They said in turn, hands shoved into their pockets. "Percy?" she asked, all too familiar with their brother, who had insisted on telling her every rule there was for everything about Hogwarts. They nodded, one of them pulling something out of his pocket. She hadn't talked to the two of them much, only seeing them in class, in passing, and when they would sit next to her during meals. Of course, they said things in passing or casually but that was about it. She really didn't know much except from what she had inferred from their interactions and from listening to people talk. She knew that they were known as pranksters, were part of a very large pureblood family, weren't too well off, were the Hogwarts Quidditch team's beaters, earned good marks despite their devious nature, and were apparently well liked by many of the student. Earlier in the week she had overheard a group of girls talking about how they'd grown since the following year, and apparently had gotten far more attractive over the summer. As they poured a clear liquid over the goo, making it harden and crack, she found that she didn't disagree with the rumor she had heard.

"Merci." Dusting off her sneakers, she looked at them and smiled. "Mer-what?" one asked. "Its thank you in French you git." "Oh, right." She rolled her eyes at their banter, but stood up a little straighter when she noticed something. Thinking back to any time they talked to someone, she realized that one's voice was slightly higher than the others. She would take the time to test this theory at lunch. "Perhaps you should try and prank your brother in a less public area." She ran her fingers through her hair, leaning against the banister. "Good idea." One said, scuffing the area where the goo-dust had collected with his shoe. After a moment of awkward silence that led Josephine to leave tooth indents in her lip, the one with the deeper voice spoke up. "If you didn't have plans, want to walk to lunch with us?" Shrugging, she replied. "Sure, it is not like I have anything else to do." Her voice lost its strength halfway through her sentence. "What? No meetings with friends or boyfriends?" The other said, smiling to show he meant no offense. She snorted, heading towards the Great Hall as they walked on either side of her. "Very funny." She muttered.

They left the conversation there as the walked in silence, and Josephine was grateful. The fact that she had yet to make a friend upset her greatly, because it was the only thing she was having trouble adjusting with. Even thought she didn't have many friends at Beauxbatons, she still had people to be around. The three started to fill their plates as they sat down, the twins taking a place across from her instead of their normal spot on either side of her. "Have you started that paper for McGonagall yet?" one asked her after several minutes of silence, making her jump. "I already finished." She stated quietly, looking at them. "Already? It's only been three days. " "I did it in the library after Herbology, finished it Thursday night. " she stated simply, shrugging her shoulders. "Did you sleep?" they asked at the same time, raising an eyebrow. Nodding, she reached for another baked potato. "Am I odd?" she asked softly, suddenly feeling unsure of herself. "No, most people just don't finish stuff that quickly" said the one with the deeper voice. She nodded, looking at the two of them from underneath her lashes as she ate, wondering about them.

Through the next week the twins found her more and more, talking to her during meals and saying hello to her in the common room. Although she was extremely confused as to why they were paying attention to her, she didn't mind it. It wasn't till she realized what was happening till her dorm mate asked her a question while she was doing her homework in on the first night of October.

"Why are you always around the Weasley twins?" the blonde asked, throwing herself across Josephine's bed. "I am not always around them, they just find me often." She answered, closing her book with a thud. "If you're looking to get with one of them, then it's you against half of the students female population…and maybe a few of the males. " Josephine felt her entire upper half heat up with a dark red blush. "It's not like that. I'm not fit to "get with" anyone." She muttered, chewing on her lip. "Then what's it like?" Her companion asked, raising a thick brow. Catherine Carell was an extremely nosy and outgoing girl, a nice girl, but an extremely nosy one. "We're…just friends I suppose. "

Friends. Were they friends? The question raced through her mind all the next day, all through breakfast as they joked with Lee Jordan across from her, as she watched them disappear into a secret passage with a crooked grin, as they winked at her when they raced down the staircase after dinner. Friends. Was that the word that could describe her relation to the twins? As she sat in the Gryffindor common room late Sunday night, the twins came tripping in through the portal from sneaking past Filch and flopped on the couch next to her, she realized that's exactly what they were. "Hello Fred, George." She said, looking at them in turn. "Figured it out eh?" "Took you long enough. "

_At least I'm figuring it out. _


	5. ((Update))

_**((Hey guys, its me. Sorry for a lack of a chapter...or two chapters. But finals week has proven more stressful than I had expected. My last final is tomorrow, so I should have a chapter by tomorrow evening. If you guys could please give me a review that would be great. Even if its not constructive and just saying hi or that you like it, that would be a major help. Thanks guys 3))**_


	6. Up All Night For Good Fun

_**((Sorry for the lateness guys! Its gonna pick up soon, I promise. I know I'm begging for reviews but please, please review. I would really appreciate it. I will get more descriptive from here on our, it was just getting started was a little hard. It will be /very/ descriptive regarding anything sexual later on, because...I guess I just like writing it. But it will get better, I'm sorry it's terrible so far))**_

From then on she felt much more comfortable in her skin around people. Realizing that she actually had friends in this new place made her more open to talking to new people, and from there she was more confident when people reacted positively. It wasn't till close to Halloween that people started calling her, Fred, and George a trio jokingly, a phrase which Josephine didn't know how to feel about. She didn't see them as anything special, just classmates, friends. But she could see how people could see them as a trio. Ever since the day they had trapped her in a pile of goo, they'd been hanging out together multiple time a week, at meals, in the library, in the common room. Of course, part of that was doing homework for their classes, but they usually ended up ignoring it at the end anyway.

Another part of their interactions was watching the twins practice for the upcoming Quidditch season, something that fascinated Josephine to no end. She was not the best at flying, she could really only do it for travel purposes, never anything that took as much skill as Quidditch. She knew she would surely be hit dead on with a bludger as soon as they were released, or she would fall off her broom trying to avoid it. But the twins held their own against them, maybe even out matched them. Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor captain called them "human bludgers", and they lived up to the name.

Josephine wasn't allowed to sit in the stands and watch them because Wood was so protective of his team's chances at winning the cup on his last year, so instead she would sit on the grass far enough away to see the pitch, but close enough to tell what was going on so she could watch. It was hard to tell which twin was which from that distance, but she could at least pick the two of them out by their clubs. She really enjoyed watching them, and was able to read when Wood was giving them speeches, planning strategies, or while they talked amongst the rest of the team after practice.

It was after Quidditch practice one evening when she realized what it meant when people called them a trio. Standing up as she saw the crowd that was the Gryffindor Quidditch team, all of them chattering loudly as they came towards her, Josephine discovered she had been nicknamed. "Hey Josie, the twins are at the back." Angelina commented as she passed, gesturing behind her. Josephine hardly even recognized that the comment was directed at her.

Confused, she followed Angelina with her eyes as she passed, a question on her lips. "Josie!" she heard a pair of voices call out as the rest of the team passed her. "Oi, Josie!" Confused, she turned her head to see the twins walking up the hill grinning widely. "Pardon?" Josephine was very confused; she'd never heard anyone refer to her as that before, she'd only ever been referred to as her full name. Fred grinned at her he passed her, turning himself around to walk backwards as they headed up the hill. "We've decided that Josie is a better name for you." "It's short and less complicated. " Said George as he matched her strides. "Are you calling me short and basic?" she questioned, pushing hair behind her ear. They shook their heads. "It's just more suitable." "It doesn't hurt that it sounds cute either." Fred chuckled, linking his hands behind his back. "Shut it." Josephine retaliated quickly, looking down at her feet as she walked. They two of them still wore their uniforms, causing them to look taller and broader shouldered than normal, meaning they seemed to tower over Josephine, her short-ish stature putting her eyelevel with the twin's collars normally. As the three of them walked into the castle, she thought about their so called "trio". They were confident, outgoing, charming, full of energy, intelligent and talented, while she was only good at some classes, usually quiet, anxiety ridden and still trying to bring out her inner confidence. They probably seemed an odd group, and she thought the twins fit in much better with Angelina, Lee and Alicia than with her.

But it wasn't like the twins cared if she didn't fit in with them or not. None of the other three seemed to care either. That was the beauty of Gryffindor though. There wasn't the stigma of social groups like at Beaxbatons or in a house like Slytherin. In Gryffindor everyone just belonged, it was family. A loud, rambunctious, odd mix of a family, but a family.

On the way back to the tower, the twins had told her to stay in the common room while they changed, ignoring her worry about it being after dark. Waiting for the twins, Josephine laid herself out on the couch, crossing her ankles and looking up at the ceiling. A few minutes later, the two of them came down the stair so quietly she didn't even notice them, their appearance hovering over the back of the couch startling her. As the three of them laughed at her surprise, the twins laid out their plan.

"We're sneaking out to Honeyduke's cellar, we've never gotten another person out with us before. But we'd like to give it a go. " George explained, giving her a pleading look. Fred had draped himself over a chair by the fire, and was concerning himself with a large folded piece of parchment. Josephine wasn't convinced.

"You two are going to end up getting me expelled. And I am not going home because I snuck into the cellar of a sweets shop." She did not want to get sent back to Beauxbatons when she was just now finally getting settled, but sneaking around with the twins did sound very appealing. While pondering, she had begun picking at the skin around her nails, nerves forcing her hands to keep themselves occupied, even if she would soon bleed from the torn flesh.

"We're not going to get you in trouble. If we get caught, and we won't, we'll take the blame." Fred said from the chair, sitting up and folding the map back up. "Besides, Filch is in the Astronomy tower now, we have plenty of time." Josephine didn't even bother to question how he knew that.

Ten minutes late she found herself sneaking down the staircase with a twin on each side of her. Her heart beat widely in her chest, the list of things that could go wrong forming in her head. Filch could catch them, his cat could catch them, a teacher could catch them, she could get left behind, they could get in trouble for trespassing, for theft if they took anything, a dementor could be too close to the school, she could mess them up, then they would hate her, and so many other situations ran through her head, some more farfetched than others. She guessed they sensed her apprehension; because as they ducked into any empty classroom, George leaned down to speak near her ear.

"Calm down. It'll be fine if you just relax." Fred turned at his brothers' voice, raising an eyebrow. " Yeah, plus we know what we're doing. Don't you trust us?" Josie snorted at his question. "That statement is a trap and you know it." She muttered, following them as they snuck through a door behind a tapestry. All she got in response was a chuckle. Their reassurance did calm her down a bit, the rest of their adventure going smoothly. It wasn't until the trip back that trouble almost caught them.

As they headed up the corridor towards the staircase, weighed down with pockets full of sweets, the sound of claws on stone broke their muffled laughter. Grabbing her arm, Fred pulled her behind a very large stone statue of a dragon while his brother ducked behind a partially open door. Mrs. Norris was stalking the landing ahead of them, pacing back and forth in front of their exit.

Fred had pressed himself into the corner, his hands covering her mouth and holding her waist to keep her quiet and still. Her heart pounded in her chest, her eyes squeezing shut, and she was sure Fred could hear her heartbeat in this position, her back pressed against his chest. Fred's fingers dug into her ribcage as Mrs. Norris padded past them, pacing back and forth in front of their hiding spots, and Josephine's fingers grasped his arm and squeezed in return. She could feel how hot her skin had gotten along her chest and cheeks, and she slowly opened her eyes to watch the mangy cat walk by them once again. After a few minutes of this, Josephine got an idea, and despite her better judgment, went with it.

Slipping her hand into her pocket, she took out a single Berti Bott's Bean. She felt Fred stiffen behind her, but she ignored it. Slowly lifting her hand, she threw it down the corridor so it bounced off the wall and around the corner. She was surprised she didn't miss; she was surprised that it actually worked. Mrs. Norris took off after it, disappearing around the corner and the sound of her feet fading away.

They took off immediately, sprinting up the stairs and through the portal. As they collapsed on the floor, Josephine's heart pounding in her chest, they started to laugh. First some giggles, then some quiet chuckles which progressed into a full fit of laughter. The three of them collapsed on the couch, trying to keep their laughter down so no-one upstairs can hear. As they sat there, watching the fire burn, unwrapping their candy and talking about what they wanted to do next weekend, Josephine…Josie, realized that it wasn't the nervousness that had her heart pounding all night. It was them.


	7. On Fire

_**(Yaaaay finally a new chapter. Remember, please review! It would help a lot!)**_

The night after the sneaking out incident Josie found herself having strange dreams, and all they consisted of were her and the twins. Flashes of Fred's fingers pressed into her waist, of George talking in her ear, of the three of them lying across the couch, their hips pressed against each other and their shoulders brushing. She noticed more about the situations they had experienced last night when they were shown again like this, things her senses did not pick up in the excitement of last night.

She woke up with a start, her heart beating fast and her cheeks flushed. Even as she rolled over to hide in her pillow, she could still feel Fred's hand against her side and the tingle that spread out across her body from his palm. George's breath fanned out across her neck still, the hairs there standing on end still as she brushed her fingers across the skin. She sat up, pulling the curtains aside and placing her feet on the floor. Grabbing her sweater from last night, she could smell them on it. They were the only people who could ever have that scent, the only two who could share it. Gunpowder, leather, chocolate, and peppermint were the recognizable notes, oddly mixed together with what could only be described as…them.

Shaking her head, Josie quickly changed into her uniform, fixing the slight frizziness of her hair with a headband and heading downstairs. Her hopes of avoiding them until class died the moment she entered the common room, Fred and George leaning on the wall by the bulletin board. The two of them, along with Lee Jordan, pushed away from the wall and matched pace with her.

"Hello boys." She said simply as they passed. "We were just telling Lee about your magic bean." Fred said, holding open the painting as they passed through it. "Oh really? You mean my dim witted attempt at an escape plan." She said, adjusting her bag on her shoulder as she headed down the staircase. George slid past her on the banister, smiling. "A brilliantly dim witted attempt. " "Stop that! You're going to get yourself killed." She grabbed his robe and yanked him back onto the stairs, her pulse throbbing from anxiety. All three of the boys chuckled at her outburst, following her into the Great Hall. As she sat down at their table, she could see her roommates exchange suggestive glances and raise their eyebrows at her. The twins had never walked in with her before, and she was out late with them last night. She could see them assuming what happened, her cheeks flushing at the idea that anything flirtatious or even, dare she say, sexual could of happened. But she knew that's what they were thinking.

As the day progressed, she felt more awkward than ever before as she tried to forget the dream the best she could, but her resistance was futile. She kept thinking about it, and she was surely not going to quit being the twin's friend because she was a little flustered. Their newfound closeness and fascination with her didn't help though. Ever since her "brilliant bouncing bean" they had become closer to her, included her more than before.

She realized that when people say that attraction changes how you see things, they spoke the truth. Ever since breakfast she had been recognizing things that she knew the twins always did, but never noticed. Like how George smiled more to the left, Fred more to the right, or how they laughed differently, or how their handwriting was different. Josie thought it was ridiculous to notice these things, but she noticed them anyway. Within a few days, the reality of what was going on completely hit her. It had only been 7 weeks she'd been at Hogwarts, a seemingly short time, and she had started to like someone...two someones…and they were the Weasley twins. This couldn't be good.

As soon as she got a break, she began to write a letter to her mother. She didn't have anyone else she felt confident enough to talk to about this, sadly, she knew her mother would blow it way out of proportion. Her mother, Delphine, was a little over dramatic, and anything that Josie did that she could relate to was treated like the most important moment of her life. Grabbing some parchment and quill, Josie sat herself in the corner of the common room, forgetting to write in French until halfway through, hoping her mother's second language would kick in.

_"Dear Mother,_

_School is going well, my work is challenging, but I am keeping up with the other students. I've made a small handful of friends, and have gotten comfortable in my house. I'm Gryffindor by the way, I know I haven't sent you a many letters as I promised, but things have been a bit hectic here. I am sorry though, I should of sent you one the night I arrived. _

_Speaking of friends, I have a few. One is named Bijou, she's younger and a very sweet but skittish girl, she helps with my Divination homework sometimes. Another is a Ravenclaw girl I sit next to in Transfiguration, she's extremely intelligent but thinks harshly of herself. Her name is Fauna. My roommates aren't exactly my friends, though we do get along very well. I have three friends that I met through the next two I'll talk about, their names are Angelina, Alecia and Lee. _

_But the two most important things I would like to talk about are the two boys who have made…an impact on my life here. I met them on the train ride here, and ever since we've just become friends. Well now that we've settled into being friends, and are around each other more, I've noticed something._

_Mother I think I like them. And I know you know what I mean when I say like. I don't know what to do about it. I should have probably told you before I said this that the boys are twins, Fred and George are their names. I don't just like one of them, I like them both…and I don't think I can just like one of them. I know you're probably freaking out, because I've never liked anyone having gone to an all-girls school, but I need advice. They make my heart race and make me feel…strange. They're so charming, devious, intelligent, funny, and yes, attractive. Very, very attractive. According to Alecia, I've met them after a summer of growth it seems, because last year they were not as visually pleasing as they are now. They were, but it just got…more pleasing. I don't know what to do, but there is no way I am telling them. The humiliation of rejection from two people at the same time would be too much. Please help me. _

_ Love and miss you, Josephine. _

_P.S. Send Father the best, I love you both. See you at Christmas!"_

Signing her letter and rolling it up, she headed to the Owlery to send it off. The autumn chill was starting to kick in as she pulled her robe around her, quickening her pace so she could still make it to her first class after lunch.

The owlery was her least favorite place, mostly because of the stairs to get to it and the substance that would obviously cover the surface of a place made for owls. As she stepped inside an owl near the top immediately flew down, almost missing landing on her arm. The pygmy owl nuzzled her hand as she tied the note to its leg, running her thumb under its chin as she spoke softly in French. "Rentrez chez Georgette." It took off from her arm, circling around her once before disappearing outside.

The rest of the day went on without much excitement, it wasn't until she was trying to help Lee and the twins with their History of Magic homework that things started happening that sparked the fire that had started to build inside of her.

Sighing as she stretched in front of the fire late after everyone else had gone to bed, rubbing her temples at Lee's lack of grasp on how wands were first discovered and patented. Fred finally sighed and rolled onto the floor next to her after she had explained it for the fourth time that night. "I think we should quit this for now, it's too late to try and understand all of this now." He said, setting his chin on his palm and looking at Lee in the chair above him. "Yeah, let's wrap it up for tonight." George added, slamming his book shut and tossing it on the floor.

Lee agreed, hauling himself to his feet and picking up his books. "I'm going to bed; you three can stay down here by yourselves to play as you please." He said, winking at her as he passed, earning a ball of parchment in the back of the head. "Goodnight." Josie called after him. She knew that Lee and Angelina had picked up on her attraction towards the twins, and the both of them had taken to teasing her about it. George shook his head, throwing a crumpled draft of his Transfiguration paper into the fire and stretching across the couch.

They sat in silence for a long time, listening to the fire crackle and pop. Josie had almost drifted off to sleep right there, wrapped up in her sweater, basking in the flames warmth and just listening to the twin's breath. She was feeling her eyes getting heavy when George spoke her name, causing her to jump a bit. "Oui?" she asked, turning her head away from the fire and toward them, finding them both staring back at her. "Do you like it here?" Fred asked her, his cheek resting on his arms. Smiling softly, she nodded. "Yes, I love it here. It's the most wonderful place I've ever been, its home now." They both smiled a bit, opposite corners of their mouths twitching up. There was another long moment of silence, in which all three of them looked at each other in contempt. It was comfortable, the most comfortable she'd felt, even since coming to Hogwarts. She started to wonder how much of her joy in the school came from them. They'd always been there, since the train, her first day, first class, everything.

Thinking about this, Josie realized how much she cared about them, how much she valued their growing friendship. She would never want to ruin that by revealing her attraction to them. It would make it all too awkward, too difficult. But even as she said this to herself the reality of her feelings pushed through, their gaze warming her to the deepest part of her soul.

Fred broke the silence, pushing himself up. "We should go to sleep, still three days until the weekend." George nodded, muttering an agreement and standing up. Josie went to stand, but found two hands in front of her as she sat up. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she took their hands and let them pull her to her feet. Fire shot up her arms, standing her hair on end as their hands met. She had never touched either of them so directly before.

Josie quickly let go of them, picking her books up to hide the suddenness of her release. "Merci…" she muttered, tucking her hair behind her ear while brushing her fingers against her cheeks to check how warm they may be. "You're welcome." They said in unison, causing her to laugh lightly. "See you boys tomorrow." Was all she said as she headed towards the staircase, books under her arm.

"Josie." She heard them say behind her as she reached the third step. Turning to look at them, she was met with them standing right behind her. "You're going to Zonko's and Honeyduke's with us on the Hogsmead trip…" "Right?" they said in turn, quirking an eyebrow at her. Her heart unnecessarily skipped a beat. She knew they were not trying to be flirtatious, even though they often came across as such. "Of course." She said softly, smiling gently at them. "Goodnight." She turned and headed up the stairs, their wishes for good dreams drifting up after her as her hands tingled with their warmth.


	8. Reaching Out, Touching Me

**((So my plan to keep updating every day or so may not work out, life just keeps getting in the way. I will update as much as humanly possible. I would like to say thank you to silly60 for giving me a review, it really does help my confidence in this story. Josie does have a full bio and a picture(though not fully accurate) if anyone would like to see it. Thank you so much for reading!))**

The next few days went off with no real happenings concerning Josie's feelings, her and the twins trying to accomplish all the homework they could before Hogsmead weekend, not wanting to have any responsibilities. It was Friday morning when she received a response from her mother, her owl Georgette slipping on some spilled jam as she landed between her and George. The small owl waved its leg at her impatiently as she untied the parchment, giggling at her pet's predicament. Wiping the raspberry from the tiny claw, Josie pat her owls head and sent it on its way, unrolling the parchment as she flew off. Tying the silver ribbon her mother had used to attach the letter around her wrist, and looking over the letter as chewed on toast.

_"Ma belle fille,_

_ It's so wonderful to hear from you! Your father is at work right now, so I hope my English is good enough for you to read it. I'm so glad you are doing well, we were very worried so you would not settle in as well as you did at Beuxbatons. We cannot wait to see you at Christmas and hear it all and see what you have studied. I hope they teach you well. It's wonderful that you're making friends; I was afraid you would not have after you left all those lovely girls behind when you changed schools. I hope your new friends are as beautiful as the last._

_Honey, it's a crush! You've never had a crush before! I have waited for this day for a lifetime! But two boys, twin? You're turning into your mother after all, dear! But if you're going to get a boyfriend, and I hope you do, you will eventually have to choose; unless you expect to live the life you have with two men hiding behind you ... in fact, that would not be so bad than. Your father would be shocked, your grandmother may have a heart attack, but I'm sure it would be rewarding._

_Just kidding of course! Honey, you really seem like these boys, and you're very young and very inexperienced. Do what your heart tells you, do not be afraid to take risks and have fun. Both boys sound like they can start fire in you._

_Do not worry too much. If you need medication, I can always send it with Georgette. Relax; you have so much to do still. And while good marks are great, do not forget to be a bit wild. You have changed schools to a reason lapin, enjoy._

_Amour, Mère_

_P.S Your father sends you new clothes to go with the colors of your house. Although red is not your best color, they will be beautiful on you. Many kisses!"_

Josie sighed, rolling her eyes at her mother's enthusiasm and rolling the parchment up. _Thanks mom. _She thought to herself, throwing the rest of her toast on her plate. She knew her mother meant well, but the over excitement of Josie actually having a crush on someone made her feel terrible. Josie never really liked people in the first place, possibly because of the people she had been around her entire life. The only boy, or person besides her parents, she had ever gotten along with was her cousin, and now she had three male friends. It was odd, and probably a shock to her mother. But she didn't like her struggles with her feelings being made into a major event by her parents. Shoving the letter into her bag, she told herself that she would reply when her package got here, for now settling with dropping her head down onto the table, narrowly missing the spilled jam.

She felt a nudge in her side a few seconds later, and she lifted her head slightly to look at Fred looking down at her with an amused but confused expression. "You alright?" He asked, looking her face over as it slowly turned red. She sat up, running her fingers through her hair. "I'm fine. My mom just sent me a letter, she's…she's a something." She said laughing a bit, looking at him. George looked up from his breakfast on the other side of her. "You should meet our mother." Fred nodded. "Lovely woman, but there's a reason our brother prefers dragons." Josie was immediately interested. "What brother?" This questioned launched into a discussion about the Weasley family, the three oldest brothers ahead of them being the main topic.

Bill and Charlie were an interesting topic, while she knew Percy already, but the thing that she noticed was how they twins talked like they would never accomplish or be looked upon by their parents like their elder siblings. Their discussion went far into breakfast, Josie becoming interested in their family, the size, their home and the way it ran. She had started to wish that she had grown up with so many people to look after her during her life by the time they had to go to class, the idea of the Weasley family seeming wonderful to the mind of an only child who grew up in a city apartment.

The rest of the day was boring to say the least, the majority of their time on breaks working to finish their essay for Potions so they could forget it over the weekend and have fun. They worked late into Friday evening, countless drafts being tossed away into piles as Josie, Lee and the Twins tried their hardest to write papers that Snape would at least be only mildly annoyed by.

It was early Saturday morning that she awoke, the excitement for her first trip to Hogsmead stirring in her stomach. She got up and dressed quickly, going for comfort before remembering that Fred and George had asked her to hang out with her specifically. Thinking about it a bit, she decided she should change, taking her mother's words to take advantage of the new freedom here. She ran her hands through her hair, annoyed at the mess that was her wardrobe. Finally she found a gray corduroys, a black and gray striped cardigan, and a red blouse with a bow at the neck. Slipping on her sneakers, she found the cardigan far too big for her, something she rarely experienced, and found comfort in it. Piling some money into her bag after emptying her school supplies from it, she set off downstairs for breakfast.

She sat down in the nearly empty hall, sipping on orange juice and watching the people file in as the morning went on. She was staring into must have been a very interesting pile of scrambled eggs on her plate when the twins sat next to her, both ready for the trip, in opposite colors of shirt and jacket. "Morning. " they said in unison, grabbing plates and starting to eat. "Good morning." She said back, going back to her eggs. The three sat in silence as Lee and the rest of their house came down, eating enough to last them till lunch and waiting until it was time to leave for Hogsmead.

Hogsmead to her was as wonderful and new as Hogwarts was a new week ago. The way the town was built and the people there were so different from what she was used to, it made everything about the town that was so boring to everyone else, so endearing to her. Fred and George had talked her ear off the entire way there, telling her everything about Zonk's Joke Shop they possibly could. She enjoyed their excitement, but all she really wanted to do was get there and see what they were talking about. She enjoyed visual stimulation, change and environments interesting her the most.

After arriving in Hogsmead, the students quickly split up, Lee following the twins as they led her towards Zonko's. Leaves crunched under their feet as George slipped his hand into hers, grasping her fingers and weaving in and out of students with her. Fred followed behind them, talking to Lee about ideas of the new things that could have come in over the summer.

Josie felt her chest and face heat up from embarrassment from her hand being held, the familiar fire spreading up her arm from her fingertips. She was short of breath by the time they reached the door of the shop, George pulling her inside with Fred and Lee right behind them. The store was covered floor to ceiling with different prank and humor accessories, and Josie quickly realized why they had wanted her to come with them. She was immediately interested in everything, following closely behind the twins as they looked at the new arrivals, the embarrassing contact between her and George's hand dulling to a comforting warmth that kept her grounded as she floated through the store, her heart light with happiness. But this didn't last long.

"Oi, lover boy, you realize this isn't a primary school trip, holding hands with a buddy isn't required." Lee joked, nudging George in the shoulder while they looked at magically exploding seat cushions. Josie immediately pulled her hand from his grasp, having not been fully aware of it since they entered the shop. She heard George joking back at Lee and playfully smacking him as she turned away, hiding behind a display of squawking rubber chickens as her face turned red and she started to feel her throat close up with embarrassment. It was a while before the twins found her again, her back against the wall and her arms over her chest. She was breathing deeply and counting slowly to herself, trying to reduce her anxiety when Fred rounded around a display and caught sight of her. George followed after him moments later, the two of them, standing in front of her with worried expressions.

"Hey, are you alright?" George asked, his hands shoved in his pockets. "You kind of disappeared. It takes some pretty advanced magic to pull that off." Fred joked, leaning down to catch her eye and making her crack a smile. "I'm fine, just didn't feel too well. But it's all better. "She said softly, the tightness in her throat slowly relaxing. Stepping closer to her, Fred gently rubbed her arm, the gesture comforting and frustrating at the same time. He then tugged at her gently, he and his brother giving her a smile that had made many a girl's heart leap, and nodded their heads back towards the center of the shop. Pushing off from the wall, she followed them around the store once again, looking around as the three of them talked.

Josie had learned that Alecia had apparently dragged Lee off to Honeydukes, which was explained to her by Fred with a suggestive raise of a brow. "He took a liking to her first year, it never really let up, even after McGonagall yelled at him for "fraternizing" during Quidditch games. " George explained as they looked at a wall of biting teacups. Josie laughed softly, reaching for a cup a bit higher than she could manage, even when on her toes. It was grabbed by another, and she turned to find Fred holding the cup out to her with a smile. She almost dropped it when he passed it into her hands, her muttered French thank you barely heard of the clatter of the shop, her blush hidden by her downward gaze.

They left the shop with a bag each, the three heading towards Honeydukes as the sun grew higher in the sky. Entering the shop, Josie quickly wished she had brought more money. She never really had sweets like these before not all in one place, of course she had been in the storeroom beneath the store, but they had quickly grabbed a few things and left. There were things she hadn't even heard of waiting to be exchanged for her money. They quickly came and left from the shop, Josie holding them up with her insistence to try everything she could. She finally agreed to leave with far too much candy and a promise to share with them.


	9. Mixed My Medicine

They spent an hour showing her around the rest of Hogsmead after leaving Honeydukes, and the three eventually wandered near the forest near the Shrieking Shack. Sitting down against a tree, the three of them looked at what they had gotten that day, the cool breeze ruffling their hair as it knocked leaves from the branches above. Josie was chewing on candied violets at the moment Fred ate a candy that caused him to hiccup and croak like a frog, which in turn caused her to nearly choke on a petal and double over laughing. "Frog in your throat?" she asked through giggles, ducking the wrapper that was then tossed at her forehead. "That was terrible, you should have better puns than that by now." He said, clearing his throat and rolling his eyes at her. George found it quite funny, chuckling through a mouthful of chocolate. She began to dig through her bag of Zonko's goodies, looking through everything she had bought, planning in her head whom to use them on. Her father was getting the Nose Biting Teacup, that's was for sure.

After a few minutes of rummaging through her bag, she heard voices coming down towards them. Probably a student going to look at the shack, but it was still unsettling to Josie to have people coming towards her that she couldn't see. It wasn't until they came nearer and she could see who they were that dread really hit her. Three Slytherins, two girls and a boy were loudly laughing and pushing each other on the path, coming directly towards them. Josie didn't really get along with any of the Slytherins, the only one she could stand was one of the girls in Ron Weasleys year, but she only saw her in passing, and she could only stand her because the girl told off another Slytherin girl who made fun of Josie for her zipper on her skirt breaking, and helped her fix it afterwards. But none of these three were her, and she knew these three as soon as she heard their laughter.

The two girls were in her year, and both were nasty people. She never really paid attention to their names; she was always too focused on trying to be as invisible as possible when around them. Both of them were in their Potions class, but Josie also had them in Ancient Runes. They didn't like Josie at all, and Josie didn't like them in return. Her first day in Ancient Runes they had teased her for accent within seconds of her speaking, as well as poking fun at her flipping hair and…larger, figure. With them was Marcus Flint, who she only knew from hearing the twins, Lee, Angelina, Alecia, and Oliver Wood talk about him. He was the Slytherin's Quidditch captain, and absolutely terrible in every way according to rumor. And all three of them were about to pass her and the twins.

She scooted closer to Fred, hoping to hide behind him in case they looked their way. Neither of the twins had paid much attention to the three people coming towards them, they were too interested in their new toys. Sadly, her plan failed, the dark haired Slytherin girl that hated her passionately for no reason caught sight of her, a smirk rising from her lips seeing her with the twins. She turned her path farther towards them, followed by Marcus and the other girl, now all three of them sporting sickening grins.

Josie tried to act like she didn't see them, her eyes downcast as she stood up, dusting her pants off and trying to sound as chipper as possible. "How about we go back, I still haven't had anything to drink." She said hurriedly, picking up her bag and looking at them impatiently. They had only just looked up when she heard the footsteps stop beside her.

"Must be good to have someone who doesn't understand what you're saying to tease constantly, right Weasley?" The girl beside them had a voice that was nasal and loud, causing Josie to wince. The twins immediately turned to look at the three Slytherins, a flash between confusion and anger in their eyes. "I can understand you just fine." Josie said softly, crossing her arms over her stomach. "What, I'm sorry, we only speak English." Said the other, a tall girl with short blonde curls. She felt Fred and George stand on either side of her, their shoulders pulled back and their expressions hard. "Really? Because all I can see coming out of your mouth is bullshit." Their eyes turned to Fred, Marcus Flint's eyes flashing dangerously. "Oh isn't this sweet, the muggle loving blood traitors sticking up for another outcast." The blonde said, laughing at her own words. "They must be used to being around vermin, judging by what must be in their home! But they are a cute trio, a perfect match for the little French runaway. "She ended her sentence with a terrible impression of Josie's accent, causing Josie to wince and chew on her lip. "Tell us again Josie, I don't remember. Were you kicked out of Beauxbatons for being too ugly or because they couldn't order uniforms in your size?" Georges knuckles cracked as his hands balled into fists. The dark haired girl spoke up. "Now, now Seraphina, she has gotten a bit smaller since we first saw her. Must have taken my advice to stop eating. "

Marcus Flint was in stitches, nearly doubled over he was laughing so hard. Meanwhile Josie had started to hyperventilate, the interaction pushing her anxiety to the highest it had been since she left Beauxbatons. She hadn't moved from her spot since the three had shown up, and was getting to the edge of her breaking point. "Why don't you three go slither back under the rock you came from, huh?" George said. "Let the girls have their fun Weasley" Marcus said through his laughter, his grin making Josie's stomach turn. "This is fun? Fun is you with a bludger wedged between your teeth." "Fun is watching you pathetically attempt to score underhanded points while the school watches Gryffindor catch the snitch." "Fun is knowing that your crooked grin has never made anyone jump your knickers." "Fun is not watching three people with too many issues with themselves…" "And their mum" "…pick on someone because they aren't a stuck up prick." The twins spoke in turn, then finally in unison. "So shove off."

Fred had put himself between her and them so fast she hadn't seen him move, his arms crossed as he stared down his nose at the three Slytherins. George stayed at her side, but both of them were tense. She had never seen them be so serious. Marcus's smile had faded to a tight lipped scowl. "I hope you two quick are as quick as your mouth first match. "He said, crossing his arms. "Don't worry 'bout it." Fred's voice was soft and deadly as turned from them to Josie and George. "Let's go sit behind the Hogshead, it probably smells better there." George added, tugging Josie back towards town as Fred led the way.

It wasn't until they were almost into town that Josie collapsed, her knees giving way as she fell against a tree, her ankle twisting awkwardly. Wrapping her arms around her legs as she curled in on herself, she heard both twins stop and kneel on either side of her, crowding her. She needed to slow her heart rate down, needed to breathe normally. "Back. Off." She said sternly, looking up at them through her bangs as they retreated a few feet away. She was too hot, her chest and neck broken out in red hives. Ripping her sweater off, she sat down completely, stretching her legs out letting the wind roll over her.

It was a few minutes later that she looked up, her breathing slowed to a normal rate. "Je suis désolé." She muttered softly, leaning her head back against the tree. "Are you alright?" one asked, she didn't have the energy to tell who. "Do you need anything?" asked the other. "I'm better now, I'm sorry. I just needed a moment to calm down. "She felt the familiar dryness in her mouth, her head still a little dizzy. "What was that?" the question was hesitant, and she recognized that is was Fred who asked. Her sigh could have knocked over the north tower. "I have an anxiety disorder, it…it's mostly social. I've tried to get control of it; I used to take medication every day to help lessen the effects…." She spoke quickly and softly, the skin around her fingers being tugged at by her nails the entire time. Josie regretted not bringing her medication with her to Hogwarts.

Two right hands grabbed both of hers, her eyes tracing up the arms to meet their faces. "We didn't know. We would have gotten you out of there sooner." She smiled, shaking her head. "No…its fine. I probably need to learn to stick up for myself." She went to get up, wincing as she felt pain shoot up her leg. _You've got to be kidding me. _She must have twisted it or rolled it when she fell. _Nice job Josie, ruin the entire day. _George noticed her wince, immediately grabbing her elbow to steady her. "Can you walk alright?" he asked, ducking his head to look at her. "I'll be fine." She said, kicking herself for being such a bother today.

She'd only gotten a few feet when she had to stop, tears building in her eyes and her limp making her unbearably slow. Fred caught her arm. "Stop, this is even painful to watch, which means…" he stepped in front of her. "It has to be painful to walk on." She kept her gaze down, teetering a bit on her sore ankle. "I'm carrying you." She looked up so fast she could have given herself whiplash, her eyebrows almost meeting her hairline. "Non, non. You are not. I am not being more of a burden than I already have today, you can't risk my size hurting you before Quidditch season, plus it will look si-""Josie." She stopped when she caught his expression, and realized that he was most certainly not taking no for an answer. "Oui?" "Shut it." "Okay." Looking between Fred and George, the seriousness in their eyes burned into her heart, the expression almost erotic in how abnormal it was for them. "You can either get on my back, or I will carry you like a child." Fred smiled, breaking the tension a bit. She chose his back, her anxiety kicking up as she worried about how much she weighed hurting him at all. But Josie didn't dare argue with them. With George helping because of her bad ankle, Fred lifted her onto his back with what seemed like ease, heading back through town and towards Hogwarts.

They were almost back onto the grounds when she spoke up, her chin resting on his shoulder. "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused; I seemed to have ruined your day." She felt Fred's chuckle through his back, his brother turning to walk backwards and look at her. "Rubbish, Flint and those two girls ruined our day; we had a good time with you." George said, smiling widely. Fred nodded in agreement, shifting her on his back as they started uphill, going silent for a few moments. "Oh, and Josie." She made a noise in the back of her throat to show she was listening. "If you ever try and say you weigh too much in front of us again, you'll be waking up to green skin the next morning." George stated, grinning at her. She could only nod.

It was almost a beautiful moment until she heard someone running behind them, passing them quickly and nearly knocking all three of them over. "Good on ya Princess, break his back so it's easier to knock him off his broom!" Flint yelled as he and one of the girls barreled past. "I wouldn't talk about breaking anything Flint, you're lucky you're so thick otherwise you'd be even dumber than the rocks you must have been dropped on for your face to end up like that!" Josie called after him, feeling brave with the twins beside her.

Flint rounded on her but didn't dare say anything as they neared the school, McGonagall standing ahead to count the students as they entered. Pressing her cheek against Fred's shoulder, she reached her hand out to meet George's, Fred bouncing her on his back as he cheered.

She decided that she didn't need medication with the twins around; they were all she needed to keep her at her best.


	10. Knock On Wood

_**((Aaaaaah this chapter gave me issues...I had a mental breakdown this week so I'm sorry for this chapter. **_

_**Thank you to the guest who reviewed! I think that there are so few fanfics that are about both twins together, and they usually end up with one or the other being the focus, but I am not going to do this.(on that note there are so few smut fics with both of them) While I do favor one of the twins(both the Weasley and the Phelps twins), they are both beautiful characters with different qualities and I completely plan to explore that, without picking a favorite. Because the twins are the twins, one without the other doesn't feel right. And I am really trying to keep Josie a good character with flaws, strengths and development, I work and worry over her so much, I really appreciate the compliment on her. **_

_**Another warning guys, this fanfiction is going to have smut/sex/mature content, whatever you want to call it, and there will be more chapters with it in it, and it is going to have exploration and different/taboo things in it. They're teenagers, with exploration of self comes exploration of sexuality. If you don't want to read it, I will post in the authors notes that the chapter will have mature content, and I will put a marker in the chapter. **_

_**Please review, talk to me if you want, and enjoy~!))**_

The week after Hogsmead was slow, the excitement of the last weekend causing the students to feel even more bored than usual with their schoolwork. The only thing that kept them from falling face first into the staircase was the knowledge that Halloween was soon coming, and after that the start of the Quidditch season. Well, that and what had been discovered Saturday evening.

The night they returned from Hogsmead, she had been in the hospital wing when Gryffindoor tower had been found broken into by escaped Azkaban prisoner Sirius Black, someone she'd only known about through the paper. She suddenly felt grateful that she spent the night in the hospital wing keeping off her ankle, because she heard from the twins the next morning when they met her at the door to the infirmary that the rest of Gryffindoor house had spent the night on the floor of the Great Hall while the teachers searched the castle.

Josie had been in the hospital wing a number of times since she was first escorted there by Professor McGonagall, still on Fred's back. Her ankle was fine, just a little sprained, nothing that couldn't be fixed quickly, but it still needed to be checked on periodically. She had a limp for most of Sunday morning, but most of that time was spent sitting in the common room with Lee and the twins.

She saw less and less of the twins as they practiced longer hours, but that was all right with her. She had time to finish her schoolwork ahead of time, write letters to her mother and father, and catch up on a book she had wanted to read. She still sat on the hill by the Quidditch pitch, watching them practice while she did work and enjoyed the air.

One evening the Gryffindoor Quidditch team exited the pitch later than even their extended practice time had been. Standing up as the team passed her, she struggled to catch sight of the two gingers, failing to see them. Angelina passed her, nudging her arm with the end of her broom. "They're getting an earful from Wood, they decided it would be a brilliant idea to rough house and nearly knock each other off their brooms." The dark haired girl rolled her eyes, looking back as Wood came jogging up the hill, Fred and George walking a bit behind him. When all three boys caught up with Josie and the rest of their team, the group began heading back up to the castle with Josie a few feet away. She didn't feel too comfortable with all of them. She liked them all just fine, but she thought they were far better than her, their talent putting them higher than herself in her mind. Josie's flying skills were mediocre; the only practice she got was at her Grandparents cottage on summer visits.

The large group of chattering Gryffindoors were halfway to the castle when Wood started his speech, once again talking about how this was his last year and they needed to win house cup; the same thing he said at the end of every other Quidditch practice the twins had told her. "We're the best team Gryffindoor has had in years, there's no way we can be beaten." Wood was saying when Josie tuned in after laughing into her palm at the twins imitating him behind his back. "Knock on wood..." she muttered, adjusting her bag on her shoulder.

She regretted it immediately. Fred and George looked at each other and then back at her quickly, grins breaking out across their faces. "Good idea." They said with a raise of their brow, jogging to catch up with Wood. She realized what they were doing a moment too late. Fred and George had both raised their hands and proceeded to smack Oliver Wood, Gryffindoor Quidditch Captain, in the back of the head yelling "Knock on Wood!" just as she called out to stop them.

Half the team went into a fit of laughter, the other half stood wide eyed in fear of what Wood would do to them. The twins looked extremely proud of themselves, their chest sticking out and their smiles wide. Josie thought she would pass out, covering her mouth as she broke down into sobs of laughter and embarrassment.

Woods face had never been so red than he was in that moment in Josie's memory, but he took a breath, shook his head and looked at them. "Good one. You're lucky I need you first match." His voice was calm but the look he gave them was deadly, and she could tell by the twin's expression that they got the hint to knock it off. The rest of the walk into the castle and up to the common room was quieter than death, the entire team scared stiff by Woods seriousness.

It wasn't until they got back to the common room that the silence was shattered as the team broke off to go up to their dorms. "That was clever Josie." Fred said, nudging her in the side. "What was?" "The idea to hit Wood." Josie rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips and staring him down. "I gave no such idea and you know it Fred Weasley, what I said was an expression." George snorted at her tone, sliding his arm into hers and pulling her towards the winding staircase to the boy's dorms. "We know, but it still gave us the idea." He said as he began pulling her up the first few stairs. She dug in her heels and stood wide eyed, confused.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her tone short and worried. Fred slipped past them, heading up the stairs. "We think we saw a new passage way on the third floor." He said. "We're going to check it out tonight." George added. "We want you to come." "But we wanted to show you something first." They had both stopped and turned to look at her. "And you have to show me it in the boys dormitory?" she questioned. "Yeah, you can look at it while we grab a change of clothes." Her heart thudded in her chest unexpectedly. All she could do was nod and allow them to drag her by the crook of her arm to their dorm. She couldn't argue with them, not when they grinned like that.

The Weasley twin's dorm was shared with Lee Jordan, who was lying across his bed doing his homework when the twins kicked open the door and pulled her inside. "What the hell is she doing here?" Lee asked as she entered, obviously confused. "We'll only be a moment." "Get your knickers out of a twist." The twins said at the same time, George leading Josie to sit on one of the beds as Fred dug around in his things. "Hold that." Fred said, handing her a piece of parchment, closing the curtains in front of her. She stared at the crimson fabric for a moment, still in a state of shock, but that faded after a few seconds of hearing Fred and George rummage around on the other side of the curtain. Sighing, she pulled her legs under her, getting more comfortable as she looked over the parchment that had been shoved into her hands.

_What is this? _She asked herself, looking at the blank folded paper. _This must be a joke. _Running her fingers through her hair as she looked around, she tried to guess whose bed she was on, but really couldn't tell the difference between this one and her own. But the thought that she was on either of their beds made her stomach flip. She caught herself running her fingers over the blanket, and jerking her hand back like it was on fire when she realized it. She felt herself getting hot under her sweater, and she yanked it off over her head, loosening her tie and unbuttoning the top of her shirt.

She could hear them talking in hushed tones on the other side of the curtains, Lee obviously arguing about something with George. Peeking through the crack in the fabric where Fred hadn't closed it all the way, she could hear broken words of their conversations and Fred sitting on the other bed listening to them, something about "can't do that", "fragile", "she's new", "feelings", "careful", "bloody rubbish", "never try", and "damage". Josie tried to listen more, leaning forward till her ear pressed against the curtain. Her plan started to work, she could hear George saying something about her clearly…until someone leaned against the bed and made it move.

Josie lost her balance, falling forward before she could register what was happening. She was lucky her impulse was to turn around so she wouldn't hit the ground face first, but that same impulse also caused her to become tangled in the curtains, her leg wrapped in it and held suspended. Her left shoulder blade hit the floor quite hard, surely to bruise tomorrow. When she looked up, everyone was staring at her, their attention probably caught by the very large thud the fall made, and the very high pitched squeaks Josie made. After blowing her tie off her face and pulling her skirt down in a manner far from graceful, she awkwardly grinned. "Bonjour." She said softly, waggling her fingers in a wave.

Lee, Fred and George stared at her for a moment before they all doubled over laughing, Lee almost hitting the floor from his place leaning against one of the four posters of the bed she was just on. Fred took her hand as she untangled her leg from the curtains, pulling her upright and to her feet. She muttered an apology and folded her sweater over her arm, looking around the room before her eyes landed on the elephant in the room. Well, it was an elephant to her at least, and it was attractive and ginger.

George Wesley was leaning against the opposite wall with a shirt in his hand, and it must have been the one he had been planning to wear, because he wasn't wearing one at the moment. Josie immediately turned her back to him, covering her mouth as her cheeks went scarlet, the image of George Weasley without a shirt forever burned into her mind in the best of ways.

She could vaguely hear Lee Jordan choke on his own laughter over the thudding in her ears, trying to stop her mind from replaying the image of one of her first crush's standing mere feet away from her, close enough for her to see the freckles that dusted his light skin and the line of red on his lower-She shut her brain off right then and there, ignoring the fluttering in her stomach, the lump in her throat and the clenching of the muscles in her body.

She needed to write her mother another letter.


	11. Twisting Beside Myself

_**((I'm struggling guys, I want to get to the good stuff. Here's another chapter.))**_

After the debacle of Josie completely embarrassing herself, and after Lee Jordan had stopped laughing after a solid four minutes, she found herself sitting on Fred Weasley's bed staring at the blank parchment he had handed her earlier, and the twins were staring at her with wide matching grins as she looked at it.

Her heart rate was slowing down and the blush that had broken out across her skin was slowly fading as she tried to shake what had just happened from her mind. "So, what's this?" She asked after clearing her throat, glancing at Lee who was grinning at her from his bed. "That's the reason we're infamous." Fred said, looking quite pleased with himself as he puffed his chest out. "Slow down there friend, or your head will grow bigger than Snape's nose. " Josie said, smiling as she gently hit his head with the paper. "You're not infamous yet, and if you're telling me this piece of blank parchment is what made you so great, then you're nuttier than I thought." George snorted, taking out his wand and smiling at her. "Watch. " He put his wand to the paper. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He said, and the paper was slowly filled with writing. _The Marauders Map? How odd. _She thought as she read the cover with a quirked eyebrow. "Open it." The two said in unison, watching her intently.

Looking up at them from under her bangs, she laughed softly before opening the parchment and looking it over. She was pleasantly surprised and amazed all at once. "This is Hogwarts, isn't it?" she asked softly, looking down at the few feet that were padding around the map, quickly finding herself , the twins and Lee in Gryffindoor tower, her heart skipping when she saw their names written next to each other. "How long have you had this?" Josie was extremely curious about this map. "Took it from Filch's office first year, had it ever since." Fred said, watching her. "And you can see everything?" She looked at them, her heart swelling with admiration for them. "Everything." George answered. "And everyone." His brother added. "No matter where they are. " "Or what they're doing." "At any moment." "Of any day." "I swear they rehearse this stuff." Lee Jordan muttered, breaking Josie out of the trance she had fallen into staring at them. "I wouldn't be surprised. "She muttered back, smiling as the twins broke into an argument with Lee.

The rest of that night had been spent laughing and joking around in their room, sneaking out of the tower and down into the kitchen for a snack, setting dung bombs off in front of the entrance to Slytherin's common room, and hiding from Filch in a broom closet . The broom closet incident ended up much like the statue incident, with Josie pressed against one of the twins. Well, it was both of them this time. They assumed the closet would be bigger than it actually was, a mistake which caused Josie to be squished between the two boys.

Fred had his ear against the door, trying to see the map in the pale moonlight that was streaming in from the keyhole. Josie's back was pressed firmly against his chest, and George's chest was pressed firmly against hers as he attempted to keep himself from leaning against a wet mop. It was all Josie could do to keep her embarrassment from showing through. She could feel her face breaking out into a blush that would crawl down to her chest, where her heart was hammering above her ever acrobatic stomach. Her brain was working against her in this situation, playing scenes in her head on repeat as the twins planned in hushed tones .

First came the reality. George shirtless in front of her, Fred holding her behind the statue, the three of them squished together on the couch, Josie fallen over one of their laps, things that were most definitely memories that had happened as she lived and breathed. But then Josie was shown images that were not real, fantasies she didn't know she had flickering behind her eyes.

Pushing the images from her head, Josie tried to focus what was happening. George was mouthing something to Fred, his head ducked awkwardly to keep from hitting a shelf and his elbows braced against the wall to keep his backside from touching the mop behind him. He shifted his body to watch the map in Fred's hands, causing Josie to become firmly sandwiched between the two of them, not even enough space for air between their bodies. She could feel herself become squished, and her mind couldn't figure out it that was exciting or utterly embarrassing.

Josie had been in close proximity to both of the twins before, but not this close. Her senses were overwhelmed by them. They smelled of gunpowder, chocolate and fresh cut grass, and looking up at George she could count the freckles across his cheeks but her eyes wandered downward and settled on the center of his chest, suddenly flashing back on seeing him shirtless, her entire body tensing up.

"You alright?" she jumped at Fred's voice in her ear. "Fine. Just peachy. Peachy as cobbler." She answered quickly, looking at him as she picked at her nails enough to make them bleed. "We can go now." He said gently, opening the door and stepping out. Josie quickly followed after him, George closing the door behind them as they took off for Gryffindoor tower, almost tripping though the portrait as they laughed at a wizard yelling at them to quiet down from a painting.

The twins disappeared off to their room to sleep, and Josie through herself across the couch in the common room for a good yell into a pillow as soon as they disappeared. She could still feel their bodies burned into her skin. _No wonder they're Beaters. God bless Quidditch. _The pillow she slammed over her head cut off her thoughts on the relation between their Quidditch position and the firmness of their physique. Dragging herself up to bed, she pulled out a quill, ink and parchment and set to writing that letter to her mother before she forgot how to explain her feelings.

_"Mothe_r,

_School continues to go well, Quidditch season is coming up and I believe my house will have a winning streak judging by the practices. Yes, I watch the practices; the twins are on the team, Beaters at that. You should watch Quidditch sometimes mom, I think you would enjoy it. _

_Speaking of the twins, no I have not figured out which on I am fonder of, and I have not let on that I like them. I think my friends Lee and Angelina have noticed though, and Lee often teases me for it. But I have a problem. The twins and I are growing forever closer, which is landing us in situations where we are…closer. Just the other day one carried me after I hurt my ankle (I am fine), and tonight I saw one of them shirtless and got into close proximity with them while "being wild" as you would say, hiding in a broom closet from an adult when we were out after hours. _

_They drive me a point I can only describe as insane, excuse my language I know I should not say that. But I go completely blank, can't think, and can't speak. My heart races, my body heats up and my stomach does flips. I don't know if you can understand what I'm saying mother. I notice things that I don't think I should. Like how they smell, gunpowder, chocolate, cut grass and a something that I can only describe as them. Tonight when they were talking I noticed a scar above one's eye, two moles on the others neck, I notice which side they smile more towards. When I saw him shirtless tonight I couldn't breathe. Merlin he's beautiful. Not your type at all, but he's gorgeous. And if he's gorgeous it can be guaranteed that they're both gorgeous. Mother do you know what a Beater does? They pretty much swing these bats and knock these evil, fast, mean balls around the field. You can tell these boys can handle them. I'm just going to let you imagine what that sentence is hinting at. And from being pressed against them in the awkward broom closet situation I can tell that it's completely and utterly…true. _

_Do you see what they do to me! Here I am talking about them like this, my heart still racing. My mouth went dry when they look at me; my stomach goes back and forth between doing flips and feeling like a knot. They make me nervous, excited, overjoyed and a wreck all at once. I feel things that I don't know how to explain and are really starting to get to me, interfering with my thoughts. This isn't good, I hate it. I hate feeling like a little girl with a crush on some famous person._

_The worst part is the more adult side to this. For the first time today I had thoughts of things that would make dad's hair frizz out, stuff like the things in the books you keep in the bottom of the basket in the reading lounge. I don't know what to do about. I'm babbling about boys. I'm sure you're ecstatic and are going to want to sit me down in your bedroom and talk about this for hours while we drink some odd flavored tea. _

_ I love you, can't wait to come home for Christmas._

_ Josie."_

Josie rolled up the parchment and tied it with the silver ribbon her mother had tied the last one with, setting it on top of her bag to be sent back with Georgette in the morning. As she lay in bed, Josie thought of what she had written. Perhaps she had gone a bit overboard with the explanation, knowing her mother would get a kick out of it, she did not lie. The twins frustrated her to no end, they gave her so much happiness and strength but then made her so nervous, gave her feelings she had no clue how to pinpoint.

She fought the thoughts about them, hoping it would die down soon enough and instead thought about Halloween coming up soon. She hoped it would be as sweet as the candy she and the twins had bought in Hogsmead, and that the tricks she knew the twins had planned would distract her from herself. As she drifted off to sleep with her skin still warm from theirs and her stomach tight, she thought of them once again.

_Maybe that map of theirs can help me find my way around my own emotions. _


	12. Spaced Out On Sensation

_**((Sorry I'm a sucky writer guys, and sorry for the wait. Stuff going on lately, personal crap that you probably don't care to hear about. I'll let you get onto the chapter. Next chapter will contain Quidditch and maybe a realization!))**_

Halloween had always been Josie's favorite holiday. Her mother was appalled by the corporate Halloween that had been adopted from America that some people celebrated, but her Father loved the Halloween the wizarding world celebrated. The day of Halloween Hogwarts was filled with excitement, the students glad it was a Sunday so they could just enjoy it.

Lee Jordan welcomed Josie that morning by throwing a chocolate spider at her, which scuttled down her leg and under an armchair. Most of the time before lunch was spent with Fred, George, and Lee, the four of them sitting in a corner of the common room talking about pranks the twins were pulling later on in the day. Fred had wanted to put exploding teabags in the teacher's lounge, but Josie and George agreed that the outcome of that could be mixed, and some teachers didn't need to be covered in hot water today. Josie had the idea to plant a sack of spiders under the rim of the toilet in the girl's bathroom, but the four of them couldn't figure out where to get a sack of spiders at this hour. Josie decided against helping them out by the time they went to lunch, she needed to send that letter to her mother along with the letter she needed to write for the family's tomb when her mother went for Toussaint.

While writing the letter at the table at lunch, George leaned over her shoulder to see her writing in French, working on her second piece of parchment since she got there. "What's that?" he said after swallowing, slipping the paper out from under her hand when she put her quill down. "It's a letter to my deceased family, for my parents to put in our family tomb on Tuesday. " "For what?" Fred said before taking another mouthful of bread. "For Toussaint of course." "Two-sa..what?" Josie had momentarily forgotten where she was and forgot they did not know French customs, but looking at the confused and amused faces of Fred and George Weasley snapped her out of it. "It's a muggle holiday, that's celebrated from October 31st to November 2nd, it's a remembrance of our loved ones that have died." She said quickly, smiling awkwardly and waiting for their reaction. "Dad would have a fit over that." Fred said to George, causing her to raise a brow. "Our dad loves muggle stuff, it's kind of his job." He added after catching her confusion. "Why does your family celebrate a muggle holiday?" George asked. "Cause one or both of her parents are muggle, you git." Fred added, rolling his eyes at his brother.

Josie nodded, picking apart her toast. "I'm half-blooded, my mother is non magic." The twins nodded, shrugging their shoulders and going back to what they were doing. "Can your mum read English?" George asked, looking at the letter for the tomb. "Oui, she's learned because of Dad and I. Dad's first language is English." She picked up the other letter to her mother, the one not containing things about them, and showed him. "See? I usually write in English, for special stuff I write in French." She watched him flick his eyes over the paper, and she suddenly got anxious about her handwriting of all things. It was bubbly and curly, something she got from her mother. "You talk about us?" He asked suddenly, looking at her. Josie's heartbeat picked up quickly, thinking she had given him the wrong letter, before realizing she had told her mother about her friends studying with her and their excitement about Halloween. "Of course I do, you're my best friends." She wished she could catch the words the fell from her mouth, but they were caught by the twins before she could even lift her hand. Fred was at his feet in an instant.

"I am honored madam that you would award such a title to such simple men as we!" George had joined him before she could blink, taking her hand and getting down on one knee. "We shall be forever grateful for such a title, it tis simply too much for low life's such as us!" Josie was turning red, people staring. "If you two don't sit down it'll be raspberry jam down both your shirts." She said quickly, covering her face with her hands. The bench bounced as they both sat next to her, leaning on the table.

"But seriously…" "Oh that's possible?" Josie cut Fred off, earning a chuckle from the both of them. "Yes, and we're glad you count us as your best friends." He finished. "You're one of ours too." George added. A smile twitched on her lips. "Thanks boys…" she looked up from her hands suddenly, getting an idea. "Here, write something." Handing George her quill and setting the letter to her mother in front of him, she watched him write a short message, signing it and then handing the quill to Fred. Fred leaned over her to scrawl, literally, a message and sign it with a flourish before setting the quill down. Josie looked it over before rolling all three letters together. "It'll be a miracle if my mother can read your handwriting Fred."

On her way to the owlery Josie decided to actually try and read what they had written. She only had to try because Fred Weasley's handwriting was in a word, atrocious. Waiting for Georgette to make her way down from the high ceiling, she looked at what they had said.

_"Bonjour! I'm your daughter's friend, and I did not copy that greeting from her handwriting at the top of the page! My brother and I will make sure to get her into loads of trouble, but we won't get her expelled. Promise. I'd say more but George already has it covered. –Fred Weasley" _

She smiled at his scrawl, rolling her eyes a bit at his obvious attempt to be above his brother. Her mother was sure to get a kick out of that, Fred was probably the one she'd like more. He had the ego her father did. Next she glanced down at George's writing, finding it a bit longer than his brothers.

_"Hello there! This is George, one of Josie's friends. She's letting us write on her letter. Despite what your daughter may say, she is doing fine here and has met friends that will not let harm come to her…well, at least not from anyone but us, and we aren't too hard on her. She's bloody brilliant and a good friend, you should be proud of her. –George Weasley"_

Josie smiled at his words, her heart thudding in her chest. Realizing she took the fact that they were more than just devious for granted, she swore they were getting presents next Hogsmead visit. The twins had a lot more to them then she originally thought. They were actually extremely smart, brilliant beaters, loving older brothers, kind hearted, and so many other things that she couldn't think to list. Josie didn't think most people realized what they were capable of, she felt terrible herself for not seeing it earlier. Fred and George Weasley were two of the most amazing people she had ever met.

Halloween had never been a more enchanting time for her, the castle was buzzing with excitement. Before dinner the twins had completed 13 pranks and not gotten caught once, even though three of them were on Percy and four were on Filch. Percy was looking very sour, his hair curling widely as it faded from bright purple back to its ginger color when she sat down between Fred and George, her hair bouncing as she nudged the twins with a grin. "I can see one of your efforts went well." She said as she fixed the orange and black bow that she had place in her hair. She could feel Percy eyeing it disapprovingly. "Oh yeah, went splendidly." Fred chuckled, waving at his brother.

The rest of the night went smoothly, Josie quickly becoming excited from all the food and sweets, her and the twins ending up in their dorm listening to music with Lee. Their beds were covered in candy, along with some of their outer clothing. Josie was down to her button up, skirt and tights, the boys just in their pants and shirts. Fred and Lee were loudly singing along to a song on the radio, while George and Josie sat on Fred's bed trying Berti Botts Every Flavored Beans. As she choked on a cinnamon flavored bean as Lee's voice cracked on a high note, she could not have been happier. She was completely at ease until Fred Weasley grabbed her hand and dragged her to her feet, her heart thudding widely as he spun her around to the music, her hands in his.

Fred bounced onto the bed next to her as the song ended, grabbing a chocolate frog and popping it into his mouth as he leaned against the bed poster. "How did your Halloween go Josie?" Lee asked, sprawling across his bed with his hands behind his head. "It went well, I put spider legs in all the beds in one of the girl's dormitories and slipped a howler into a Slytherin girl's bag disguised as a love letter. " She said softly, not too proud of her weak attempts at pranks but deciding to tell them anyway. George smiled, chewing on an éclair flavored bean as he clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Not bad." "Not bad at all." Fred added, tossing the wrapper to his frog on the ground with the rest of the wrappers.

Josie snorted when she looked at him. "Thanks. You've got chocolate on your face." She said as she gestured to his chin. He tried to wipe it with his sleeve, but missed several times despite her instruction. "Merlin, come here." She sat on her knees, batting his hand away gently and wiping the smear off with her thumb. Time seemed to slow down for Josie as she looked at him, his eyebrow raised at her as he grinned. Glancing at Lee as she retracted her hand, she was met with a grin and a wink, and she realized how red she was turning. "I should go to bed." She muttered, scrambling to get her stuff and heading for the door. She turned back as she closed it behind her, catching the twins look at each other then back at her, smiles forming as the door closed.

The next morning on the way to breakfast she tried to avoid them as much as possible, going down early and grabbing her food before the twins could show up and eating her toast as she went to the bathroom to wash up before class. Josie didn't like washing when other people may be there, she preferred to be alone. But it was hard when the bathrooms were shared with the rest of the girls in her house, so she picked times when she knew people wouldn't really be in there. Like the middle of the day or when people were at meals. Josie didn't mind that it meant she had to walk up and down stairs more than needed.

As Josie was drying her face she heard the door close behind her, and she looked out of instinct. A seventh year girl with bloodshot eyes and braided hair slammed her hand against the door, letting out a loud yell of frustration. Josie supposed something upsetting had happened to the girl, and decided to be as quiet as possible so she could sneak out and leave her be. But she was too late; the girl looked up and spotted her, sighing rather loudly and rudely. "Oh great, of course the weird ones are in here at this time of day." She said, her voice a bit nasally. "I'm sorry, I was just leaving. " Josie replied, ducking her head and picking up her things. She was slipping her sweater back on when she heard the girl laugh, making her flinch. "You're the girl those Weasley twins are always around. God, why can a fat girl get boys to like her but not me?" The girl said, pushing past her and slamming a stall shut as she disappeared into it.

Josie's stomach churned as she walked out of the tower, heading down to her first class, glad that she sat behind the twins so they wouldn't have to see her upset. She hoped the Quidditch game that weekend would cheer her up.


	13. As The Rain Comes

_**((Another chapter guys! I've been waiting for this one! I hope I did it justice. Thank you so much for all the follows, favorites and reviews! If you have anything you want to say, or just want to talk, don't be shy to send me a message!))**_

The week grew cold and damp as the match neared, and it was obvious the first Quidditch map was taking its toll on the team. Oliver Wood looked like he was in the middle of a stroke every time she saw him, and the twins weren't in their usual mood from his badgering. They were extremely frustrated when three of the girls on the team had swooned over Cedric Diggory when Wood had broken the news that they weren't playing Slytherin, they were playing Hufflepuff. When the twins caught up with her after practice their egos were obviously bruised. "What's so great about Diggory? What makes girls like Angelina bat their eyelashes and twirl their hair over a guy like that?" George was saying to his brother when she fell in step next to them. "He's absolutely thick." Fred agreed, running his hands through his hair. "Who are we talking about?" Josie asked, wrapping her cloak tighter around her as the wind chilled her. "Cedric Diggory." Fred said with distaste. "Oh him, I know who that is." She said softly, looking at them. "Of course you do!" George said, exasperated. "What? I just know his name, the girls in my room talk about him, and I see him in the hallway and at meals." The twins groaned in unison. "Do you think he's good looking?" they asked.

She stopped, looking between them. "No. I don't. I don't think he's attractive at all." They looked at her with raised eyebrows. "You don't?" the question was in unison. "No I don't, he's not my type." She started walking again, not liking where this conversation was going. "Why's that?" George asked, jogging up next to her. "Are you really asking me that? First you hate that people find him attractive then you are surprised I don't." The two of them looked at her, smiling in the way that made Josie do whatever they wanted. She sighed."Well for one I don't know him that well, he's always so quiet, doesn't show much emotion from what I can tell. He's boring really." "Not one for the "strong and silent" types huh?" Fred asked, putting quotes around his words and linking his arm with hers, George doing the same on the other side as she shook her head. "No, not my type at all." "Then what is?" They said together.

"I don't think that's something we should talk about." She answered. They stared at her silently for a few moments as they entered the school. Josie sighed. "I like people who are talkative, intelligent, caring, exciting. What's the point in liking someone if they aren't going to make your life worth living?" she stated simply, letting go of them as they headed up the stairs. They were silent for the rest of the way, until they stepped through the portrait.

"So you don't think Diggory is the most attractive boy you're ever seen?" Fred asked. She laughed a bit, turning to look at them at the entrance to the girl's dormitory. "Boys, in my opinion you two are the most attractive boys I've ever seen." She ran up the stairs after that, her cheeks red, her heart thudding, but she was very proud that she had been brave enough to say that.

The day of the Quidditch match was dreadful, the sky dark and storm clouds violently rolling in, pelting the grounds with rain. She waited for the twins in the common room until the twins appeared, many of the rest of the team and Lee Jordan behind them. She followed them down to the great hall, linking her arms with the twins because of her nervousness. She'd never really watched Quidditch, but the idea of it being done in weather like this made her uncomfortable. Josie knew the team could do it, but it still made anxiety twist inside her.

She sat next to the twins, on the edges of the team as they ate breakfast. Wood did nothing but worry himself sick, he didn't touch any food. She could see Alicia, her roommate, trying to sooth him as Josie turned herself on the bench to straddle it so she could face the twins. "How are you doing boys?" she asked softly, fighting her urge to grab their hands. She was worried, not as worried as Wood, but worried. "We're alright." "Quidditch has been played in worse conditions." Fred and George answered, but she wasn't convinced.

By the time they needed to head down to the pitch, Josie was thoroughly bundled up and was a nervous wreck. The first Quidditch match she'd ever watched and it were in these conditions. Tugging her sweater down more, the bottoms of her jeans already drenched from standing near an open doorway, she looked at the twins as students ran past them. "You two be careful, and kick ass." She said as she zipped up her jacket. "Oh we will." George said, his hands shoved in his pockets, the cold air blowing past them. "You can count on it." Fred added. Josie looked at the weather then back at them, forgetting herself and pulling them into a tight hug, and arm around each of their necks. The twins stumbled a bit at her suddenness, but wrapped an arm each around her and held her tight, causing a dark blush to appear across her cheeks.

"You worry more than our mother." Fred chuckled as the three of them let go, George making a face at the group of students who were laughing and commenting on their embrace. "With you two around, I think your mother and I have reason to worry." Josie smiled, patting his cheek and waving as she headed down with the rest of the students so she could get a good seat.

Josie had never been so soaked in her entire life. She swore she had never been this wet even when she bathed. The rain had eaten away at her coat, slipping into the spaces and soaking her sweater underneath. Her feet were freezing in her boots, and she was sure she looked like a drowned rat. Which was probably the reason no-one was offering to let her stand by them. Lee Jordan was announcing, and the rest of her close friends were on the team. As she leaned against the wooden wall by the stairs up to the stands, she was at an impasse. Either stand by a stranger or stand all alone where she can't see well and miss her friend's first Quidditch match of the year. But who would want to sit next to a drowned rat?

As she was starting to head for the top seats, she saw someone waving at her, smiling through the rain. Bijou Lemay, the girl she had sat next to first night and had helped her find the Transfiguration classroom, was bouncing next to a very tall boy, trying to catch her attention. Josie headed over to her, slipping in between her and another 3rd year. "Thank you so much." She said softly, smiling at the girl, who's light hair was hidden under a hat. Bijou nodded, pressing herself closer to the boy Josie recognized as Neville Longbottom.

Looking down from her spot, she realized how high up she was, but was thankful for her position. She hoped she would be able to watch Fred and George in this weather. She stood on her toes as she watched the scarlet team splash onto the field, catching sigh of quickly soaked ginger hair and smiling a little as she watched Oliver stiffly shake hands with the Hufflepuff team captain, and as they took off from the ground at the whistle. Squinting through the rain, she lost sight of the twins in an instant, and started to worry that something may go wrong. A feeling of dread pooled in her stomach as her mind raced. _What if they don't see a bludger to block it? What if they get knocked to the ground? What if they run into another player? Or a stand? Or fly out of the field and get lost? _Josie's heart raced, her hands raised to keep rain out of her eyes as she tried to spot them, or spot anything for that matter.

She almost gave up looking for them until a bludger came roaring towards their section, and one of the Weasley twins flew over the crowd and sent it back towards the field before it could make it to them, the sound of his bat hitting the metal ball sounding like far away thunder through the rain. Josie smiled widely, clapping as the twin saluted with his bat and took off again, their scarlet robes soaked with rain.

It seemed like a few minutes later that lighting flashed and the team descended to the field, Josie leaned over the side to watch the team huddle under an umbrella to talk. The crowd murmured a bit, almost too quiet to be heard through the pounding rain. She watched as the frizzy haired girl that often hung around Ron Weasley and the Gryffindors Seeker, the famous Harry Potter, ran onto the field and into the huddle of the team. Moments later the team had taken off again, back into the air as rain seemed to come down harder than ever, thunder rumbling along with the applause and cheers of the students. Lightening flashed every few seconds it seemed, causing Josie's heart to jump with each streak as she began to worry again that someone may be hit.

What couldn't have been more than 10 minutes later, Josie suddenly felt cold, colder than she had before from the wind and rain. She felt people surge forward behind her, pushing her against the handrail as everyone tried to see something on the field through the rain. It was dead quiet, the teams above still zipping through the air above them. But no-one even noticed, all they could focus on were the dark shapes moving on the field.

The silence was broken by people screaming, and Josie looked up just as Harry Potter slipped off his broom and fell towards the ground. The entire world was in slow motion as the Gryffindor team all slowed to a stop, and Professor Dumbledoor ran onto the field, bright light shooting from his wand as the dark creatures fled. Josie turned her head and closed her eyes tight as Harry neared the ground.

The gasps and cheers around her made her open her eyes, looking down again to see Harry on a stretcher and being taken off the field, both teams huddled around Madam Hooch as one of the Hufflepuff members was speaking, clutching the snitch in his hand. McGonagall was standing at the exit off the stands, telling all students to stay put until further notice, only allowing Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley to exit. Josie watched as the teams exited the field, barley able to tell any of them apart through the rain. She hoped Harry was alright.

An hour or so later, she was pacing in front of the entrance to the hospital wing, listening to the voices coming from inside. They team, minus Wood who had stayed in the showers at the Quidditch pitch, had been in there for a while now, and Josie was getting antsy because she couldn't go in. She hadn't been allowed to even leave the stands until Harry was inside the school, and by then the twins and the rest of the time was halfway to the castle. Josie began picking at the skin around her nails again, her lip swollen from her chewing on it.

A while later the team exited the room, filing out of the doors and heading to wash off. Every single one of them was soaked to the bone and covered in mud. Fred and George stepped aside from the team when they spotted her, their light hearted air a little heavier than usual. "How is he?" Josie asked, releasing her lip from between her teeth. "He's awake, he'll be fine." George said, looking at her and scowling at her swollen lip. "You've got to stop doing that so much." His voice was softer as he reached his hand out, his thumb running over her irritated bottom lip. She felt warmth return to her body as her heart pumped blood more violently than normal. "I'll keep that in mind." She answered, turning to walk away from the doorway and towards the stairs.

"How are you two?" She turned to look at them behind her when they were halfway down the staircase, her heart fluttering at their wet hair and dirty appearance. It was oddly attractive. "Just fine, a little pissed we lost, but we can still catch up and win the cup." Fred replied, falling in step beside her. "I know you and the rest of the team can do it." She smiled, looking at him. "But you might want to go get Wood out of the showers before he drowns himself."


	14. Affliction Of The Feeling

_** ((Thank you for all the follows guys! I really appreciate this. But I must warn you, this is going to be a long fic. I've started at Prisoner of Azkaban and am going all the way to the end and beyond. This story is my baby, and I hope it grows and blossoms like I want it to. Keep the reviews coming guys! Be honest please!))**_

Josie slept in Sunday morning along with the other girls in her dorm, waking up near eleven. After dragging herself out of bed, she dressed comfortably and went to do homework in the common room while she waited for the twins. Lee Jordan joined her about half an hour later, a brown fluffy cat with sea green eyes trailing behind him and rubbing against his legs as he sat across from her.

"It's not mine, don't know where it came from, but it seems to like me." He was saying as she finished up her assignment for Ancient Runes. The cat climbed into his lap and curled up into a ball, leaving the three of them in silence until Fred and George came in with the rest of the team, the two of them jumping over the back of the couch on either side of her. "How's Harry today?" Lee asked, scratching the cat behind the ears. "Fine, should be out tonight." George said, his brother joining him in an odd look towards the cat. "Whose is that?" they said in unison. Lee shrugged, an action that the twins echoed as they settled in.

"So what's in store for today?" Josie asked as she put away her parchment, looking between the twins. "We suppose we'd test some products, hoped you'd-""No" Josie interrupted, crossing her legs and pulling her sweater dress over her knee. "Why not?" Fred asked, putting on his best pout. "We won't hurt you, promise!" George added. "Because with you two I'll end up going to lunch with bright pink hair, a pig snout and boils." She said, stiffening a bit when the two of them laid their arms along the couch behind her. "It's not anything like that" "They're perfectly harmless." "Anything physical will wear off in minutes." "We promise." They said back and forth, Fred playing with the hair flipping out from the back of her head while George played with the sleeve of her dress, his skin contrasting against the dark blue color. Josie couldn't do anything but stare at them, completely stunned and flustered.

"Shouldn't have told them they're attractive, they've gotten a big head and will be using it against you." Lee said, leaning back in his chair as the cat stretched up his chest. "They told you that?" Josie exclaimed, pulled from her shock. "Oh yeah, wouldn't shut up about it for days." George threw one of Josie's discarded drafts at him for a reason unknown to Josie; she was still stuck on the fact that her statement had inflated their egos. They probably heard stuff like that all the time.

"Never mind that, c'mon Josie we need a girl to test this stuff on." Fred said. "Chemistry differences and stuff." George added. "And you're our first choice." Fred had leaned closer to her, his breath hitting her ear. "If anything happens, you can blame us…" "Never see us again..." "And you'll get a bag of candy for every time you swear at us if you get angry." She laughed, the joke relaxing her, and leaned back against the seat and into Fred's hand. A shiver ran down her spine as his fingers met the back of her neck, his arm stiffening against her shoulder. Lee Jordan hid his laughter at the red that was adorning her cheeks as she muttered a "Fine".

The twins grabbed both of her hands and whisked her up to their dorm before she could blink, leaving Lee Jordan and his cat in front of the fireplace. She almost tripped going up the stairs to the boy's dormitory, catching herself on Fred's arm as they chuckled at her.

She sat on Fred's bed, lifting her feet when they pulled a trunk out from under his bed and set it beside her. The twins went to digging through the assortment of odd vials before pulling three containers and setting them beside her. She didn't like the look of this. George sat next to her, opening a bottle with a pop and handing it to her. "What this going to do?" She asked, eyeing the green substance through the glass. "Turn your hair green." "Just for a moment." "If you don't drink it all.". She shrugged her shoulders and took a sip, the liquid thick as it stung her throat. The twins watched her for a moment, grins slowly breaking out on their faces, and Josie tugged at a strand of her hair, which was now bright lime green. "Well that's different." She muttered, laughing a bit as George ran his fingers through her hair with a chuckle. "Looks good on you." Josie rolled her eyes, nudging him with her elbow. "Maybe I should put some in your drink at supper so it's easier to tell you two apart." She joked. "Wouldn't last very long now would it?" Fred commented as her hair went back to its natural light brown, fading from the roots to the tips.

Something that looked like a toffee was placed into her hands, light pink and polka dotted. "That will make you lose your voice." "Temporarily." "For a minute or two." "If you only eat half." Josie looked at them, worry in her eyes. But she's trusted them so far with no repercussions, so she tore it in half and popped it into her mouth, handing the other half back to them with a hiccup. "So?" Fred asked as he wrapped the other piece back up and leaned forward to look at her.

Josie opened her mouth to speak but her voice box had seemed to stop working, her eyes widening when she could say nothing. "Try again!" George asked excitedly, as he took her face in his hand so she would face him. He could probably feel her face heat up in his hand as she tried to speak again, sound stopping in her throat. The twins high fived each other behind her head as Fred handed her another vial.

The liquid in the bottle seemed light as air, dark rose pink and bubbling. Giving them a questioning look, she sniffed the potion before swirling it with a raise of her brow. "Just drink it." George said, grinning. The look Josie must have given them must have been hysterical, because both of the twins fell into a fit of laughter at it. Her face turned redder as she crossed her arms, a scowl forming on her lips. Their laughter died down and the two of them wrapped an arm around her waist, her stomach fluttering.

"It's not going to do anything." "It doesn't even alter your body or its functions." The said in turn, smiling at her. Her throat allowed a sigh out, the tension fading from her voice box. Her cheeks burned with their stare as they watched her take a sip out of the very small vial, downing half of it.

Nothing. Josie didn't see or feel a change on her. Turning her head both ways to look at them, her apology for its failure was stopped by her heart jumping in her chest as she met their eyes, as it usually did. The room became hazy around them, her eyes only being able to focus on the two of them. It wasn't until they both leaned in to touch their lips to her cheeks after a minute of silence that she felt the change.

In seconds she went from feeling like she always did around them, flustered, to having every sense heightened, every feelings she'd ever felt around them tumbling into her all at once. The only thing that seemed to work right in the moment was her voice, the last product wearing off.

"What was that?" she asked; her voice soft and wavering. She could barely hear their response over her heart beat, their unified voice muffled. "Is it working?" They leaned closer to her, their fingers pressing into the dip of her waist as their chests brushed her arms. Fire ignited through her body, her skin turning red underneath her collar. Josie didn't know how badly she was blushing, but she knew it was enough for them to notice for once, the signature grin they always wore when they were proud gracing their features.

She wanted to smack them and kiss them all at once, as long as she got some sort of contact and emotional release out of it. Instead she jumped to her feet, her legs shaking as she turned to look at them. "I've just remembered, I've got somewhere to be." Her exclamation was a little louder than it needed to be, her voice cracking, but she felt completely out of control at that moment. Everything that was happening inside her body was like every instance where the twins had made her flustered, embarrassed, dazed, aroused, or excited all happening again, all at once.

Dashing down the stairs, she turned sharply at the landing and ran to her dorm, tripping more than once before she reached her room. Her body felt warm, too warm. She threw open a window, cold air blowing past her as she ripped her sweater dress off and threw herself on her bed,. She did something she had never done before, something she had never thought she would ever do. She screamed into her pillow. The noise she made was one of pure emotion, the vibration of her voice shaking out the tightness in her stomach.

Lying on the bed in her bra and tights, Josie didn't move until the effects of what the twins had given her wore away, her heightened state of emotion fading to the natural spark that stayed burning in her chest for them. She didn't know whether to be mad or embarrassed, she didn't even know what had happened to her. She only knew three things, the first was that she was going to get them back for that. The second was that those feelings were not new; she had felt them before just not in that concentration. The third was that she wanted those two boys to make her feel that way again, without a potion next time.

As she thought, she heard the tiny pad of feet come into the room, the cat that had been following Lee Jordan jumping onto the bed next to her with a note in its mouth. Josie opened the note as the cat left again, and was met with Lee's scratched handwriting.

_"Guess it's not a good idea to test a love potion on someone already in love, huh?"_


	15. An Itch To Scratch

_**((Thank you so much for the reviews guys! This one is longer than usual, kind of my apology for posting later than I told one of you. Hope everyone had a good holidays 3))**_

The next few days were boring, mostly because Josie was hiding from the twins the best she could. Monday she left breakfast as soon as she received her mail, a large package dropped in front of her by her father's owl, Georgette trailing behind it with her letters. As she left the great hall, she peeked around the corner to see the twins and Lee Jordan coming down the stairs. Her heart stopped instantly, her eyes locked on them as they laughed and joked, tossing a small ball of fireworks back and forth between them over the heads of other students.

Forcing herself to stop staring at them, she held the box tighter to her chest and ducked behind a group of chattering Hufflepuffs, sneaking past the twins and heading up the stairs to her dorm. She felt bad for avoiding them, but she was just too embarrassed to see them right now. Her stomach was still in knots from last night, she had hardly slept, and when she did sleep she was greeted by very frustrating dreams.

Lee locked eyes with her as he turned around to walk backwards, and she quickly shook her head to keep him from pointing her out. Josie knew that Lee was aware of her feelings, an awareness made obvious by the note he had sent her. Through it may have been a little overboard. She liked them for sure, but she wasn't so sure about love. That was a very big thing, something so big she doubted she could feel it for anyone, let alone two people. She escaped up to the tower after watching their ginger hair disappear into the great hall, the lump in her throat softening.

The package she had gotten was tied with silver and red ribbon, a sign her parents had sent it. She decided to open the letters first, in case the package needed instruction. Her mother's was on top, Josie opening the seal and unrolling the parchment.

_"Mon cher!_

_ You're growing up so fast honey. Maybe we should have sent you there sooner! I_

_Darling, you are more attracted to them then I had imagined. Soon enough you'll be pulling them into closets and under mistletoe. You do really seem to be interested in these two; I think you should go for them. Both if you want to! I think you like them both enough and if they're okay with that then there is no reason for you three not get along together! It could make things interesting._

_Anyway, enough with that. Honey, it's obvious that they do very strong things to you. It seems like you want them to do things a little further than just holding hands or kissing. And that's okay! Your body is yours, and your heart is yours, and you can do with both of them as you may as long as you know that it is what you want, and that it is safe. I don't want my little girl getting her heart broken or doing something that makes her feel regretful or guilty for the rest of her life. That being said, they seem like lovely boys, not my type like you said, but certainly like people you'd get along with well. Reading what they wrote, I can tell they do care about you honey, to what extent I do not know. I don't know how to answer all your questions, I'm not sure what all to say. We covered so much of this stuff when you turned thirteen. All I can think to say is that you need to do what you feel is absolutely best for you, you have shown your father and I that you can make choices to better yourself. You made one when you changed schools, and it seems to have gone well. All I can do is keep you informed on how to do whatever it is you may want to do with them safely, and help you ease the tension a little bit. You may be frustrated for it, but I'm your mother and I'm supposed to help you. I know my extroversion and flirtatiousness did not pass down to you, neither did your fathers, so we embarrass you at times. But you did get his big heart, my romantic spirit, his stubbornness, and my ambition. We love you darling, see you at Christmas._

_Enjoy the new clothes! And also there's a letter to the boys, don't read it dear that's not polite. Your father misses you greatly and can't wait to have you around again. _

_ Amour,_

_ Votre mère "_

Josie sighed, smiling a bit at her mother. She got excited far too easily, and was very right on the embarrassing part. But she was grateful to see that her mother has seemed to calm down on Josie being prim and proper since she changed schools, but her mother being that way probably came heavily from her grandmother, who was very set in her ways of women having to look pretty, keep up with trends and focusing on outward appearance. When Josie's grandmother had learned about magic, her first questions were if there were spells for beauty and cleaning house, and said that Josie had to learn all those spells. Josie and her grandmother did not get along well.

The box she had received from her father's owl, Lancelot, was magically packed with new clothing for her to wear. She guessed her father was excited she was sorted into a house like Gryffindor; it seemed like the house her father would have been sorted into if he had attended Hogwarts. She unloaded the clothes from the box, two pairs of shoes, three sweaters, a winter coat, a scarf, a dress, a pair of trousers, a beret, and some socks, all in the colors red, black or gold. Josie shook her head at how excitable her father was. There was a reason her parents were together. She quickly went to write him a thank you note to send with Georgette later on in the day, then went to slide the box under her bead when she noticed another small box at the bottom.

Josie picked it up and kicked the package under her bed, opening the small box as she sat on the blankets. Inside of it was a rather large ring in her opinion. It was wide enough to cover from knuckle to knuckle, the band a swirl of greys and light blues and a large silver stone with carved ridges set into it. It was the oddest ring Josie had ever seen, and she had a very odd feeling about it. But, she decided to wear it anyway.

Josie managed to miss the twins the entire rest of the day, sneaking in and out of classes and meals, staying in her room in her spare time. It was late that night when her roommate sat on the bed that she had to confront her emotions. Marina Moreno was a very loud and energetic girl, a mezzo-soprano for the Hogwarts choir. The girl's fluffy hair bounced, as she sat on her bed and turned to Josie, her sea green eyes glistening.

"Why are you avoiding the Weasley twins?" she asked rather loudly, causing Alicia to turn over in her sleep. Josie turned a bit red, but motioned for her to be quiet. "I'm not." "Yes you are. You're always around them and haven't been all day. You're avoiding them." Josie sighed; closing the book she had been reading and looking at the girl. "I'm just busy." "No-one's too busy for their object of affection." Marina said with a smile. Josie promptly shut the curtains to her bed and gave the girl a look that could kill. "How do you know that?" She exclaimed in a hushed voice, her cheeks turning redder. "I just do. Now what's wrong?"

Marina had been exceedingly nice to Josie since she got there, and was the least threatening person she knew. Even though she was loud, Josie felt like she could trust her. "…They gave me a love potion last night, and I reacted embarrassingly. I'm avoiding them for now until I get my nerve back." She mumbled, pulling her blankets around her. "They may be flirting you know. But even if they're not, I know they don't mean any harm. And they'll probably be hurt that you're avoiding them. "Marina said, stretching a bit. "They aren't flirting. They wouldn't flirt with me. And I know…I just need a little time to regain my confidence." "Why not get them back for it?" "Pardon?" Marina laughed a bit, standing up. "Get them back. Play a prank on them. It can be something for you to get your nerve, or it can be you flirting back." She stepped through the curtains, perhaps going back to her bed.

Josie sat on her bed in silence for a long while, chewing on her lip and staring at the crimson curtain. _Or both._

She couldn't ignore them any longer once Transfiguration came around. They weren't going to let her. As soon as she sat down in her seat next to them, there was a note in her lap as Professor McGonagall started talking. Opening the note without looking at them, she was glad to find that it was George's handwriting.

_"Are you alright? We didn't see you yesterday; Lee said you weren't feeling well, Alicia said she hardly saw you either. We were a little worried, we're sorry if we made you sick or anything, we thought we had all the kinks worked out."_

She smiled a little and wrote them back quickly, the ring her parents had given her glinting on her finger. She noticed the band was now a very pale pink as she passed the note into Fred's waiting hand. Her note back told them she was fine, that she'd just been having issues with her anxiety and needed to be alone for a bit.

She got one back a minute later; Fred's finger's brushing against hers longer than needed as he handed it to her. Josie looked up to catch him looking at her, and she quickly took it from him and opened it.

_"Good. Are you going to come watch practice? We convinced Wood you're a good luck charm and he'll let you sit in the stands or on the field. I guess us telling him you didn't know anything about Quidditch until you met us helped as well."_

She giggles softly and slipped the paper under her book as McGonagall strode past them to retrieve something from the back of the room, only pulling it out again when she returned to her lecture. As she pulled it out by the bottom corner, a flower sprouted from a line above her finger, unfurling its petals and blooming before her eyes. She blushed, smile tugging at her lips. McGonagall started to give them homework, so she put the note away to write down the assignment.

Just before class ended, Josie got an idea. She scribbled down a quick note, drawing a heart in the corner, pulled her wand out of her robe pocket as unnoticeably as possible, aimed it in the direction of the twin's feet, and a spell was silently cast just as the bell for class chimed and everyone packed up their things. Josie quickly packed her stuff and laid the note on their desk, smiling slyly at them and heading for the door.

_"Sure, see you at lunch, if you can make it."_

Peeking at them from the doorframe, she watched them read the note, stand up quickly, and nearly fall face first onto the desk when they couldn't move their feet. Josie was gone down the hallway the instant they turned their heads toward the doorway. It wasn't a magnificent prank, but it made her less nervous.

It was almost the end of lunch break when Fred and George appeared, looking rather unamused when they spotted her reading at the table with a sucker in her mouth. The two of them tossed their books onto the table on either side of her, and faced her. "At least I didn't stick you to Snape's floor." Josie said through her sucker, not looking up from her book. "At least we didn't rat you out." Fred said back. "Now we're even for you two testing that potion out on me without telling me what it was. You do that again and it will be Snape's floor." The boys chuckled, George wrapping an arm around her waist, taking the sucker from between her lips and popping it into his own mouth. "Was it really that bad? It didn't make you sick did it?" Fred asked, grabbing her book from her hands and closing it. "Just made me dizzy and tired is all." She replied before handing him the note her mother had written them.

She had wanted to read it, she had really wanted to read it, but she doubted her mother would tell them Josie was attracted to them, so she didn't. She didn't have anything to worry about... she hoped. Watching Fred rip open the envelope and duck behind her to read it with George, she began to become aware of them touching her again. George's fingers were pressed into her ribs, his thumb slowly rubbing the skin under the band of her bra though her clothing. Fred had his arm on the table, closing her in between the two of them, his leg pressed fully against hers. Her fingers started to drum along with her racing heartbeat against the table, and the band of the ring returning to the pale pink it was during class.

George took the letter and placed it in his pocket, the bell for next class chiming and the three of them heading to Herbology, Fred and George bewitching fallen leaves to stick to the back of student's cloaks the entire way there.

That night at Quidditch practice she sat on the field next to the door to the locker room, writing out her paper for Ghoul Studies on Thursday. She was almost finished when she looked up to catch the twins flying loops around each other, thoroughly pissing Wood off. Their laughter fell from the air onto her, warming her from head to toe and causing her stomach to flutter. When Wood called for break a few minutes later, Josie had finished her assignment and was fiddling with the ring when Fred and George landed in the stands on either side of her, setting their broomsticks on the stand in front of her.

"How are you?" They asked in unison. She smiled, sitting up straight and pulling her robes tighter around her. "Fine, just enjoying watching. You two seem to be enjoying yourselves." Josie said. She was shivering a little bit, but tried not to let it show. It was definitely colder up here than on the grounds. They must have noticed, because Fred slipped his arms into his uniform and pulled his sweater out from under it, laying it around her shoulders before ruffling her hair and taking off again when Wood called. George winked at her and followed his brother, leaving Josie there flushed and confused as she pulled the sweater around her, their smell surrounding her.

Later that night after they had laid around the common room for a few hours, talking about ideas for new products the twins could make and getting Josie to agree to write their History of Magic papers, the twins and Lee headed up to bed, Josie promising she'd go as soon as she finished cleaning up a little. Picking up her books, she discovered that Lee had left his book, the one he needed for a paper he had due tomorrow before lunch. Sighing and pulling her bag over her shoulder, she quietly padded up to their room, knocking softly twice. "Yeah, come in!" She heard Lee yell from the other side, Josie opening the door and stepping into the room as she spoke. "Lee you left your b-"Her voice caught in her throat when she looked up and saw what was happening before her.

Fred and George Weasley were both standing in the middle of the room, in nothing but pajama pants. George was in the middle of putting a shirt on, but had obviously stopped when he heard her voice. "Hello Josie." The two of them said in unison, Fred grinning at her as he crossed his arms over his chest.

After a moment of stuttering, Josie completely forgot herself, dropping the book to the floor with a thud. She turned, taking off for the girl's dormitory before her cheeks caught fire, barely hearing the twins call after her, "Goodnight Josie!" "Sweet dreams!" in turn. When she reached her room, she threw herself to her bed for the second time this week, her heart beating loudly as every nerve tensed and tingled. She ripped her uniform off, tugging on a night dress and burying herself under her sheets.

But she couldn't sleep at all. Josie was too tense, a ball of fire and energy, and she hated it. She hated the not sleeping, the biting her tongue, the hiding her flustered state, the loving being around them but hating having no release from the feelings they gave her. She hated most of all the idea that she was just lusting after them, not really feeling true affection for them at all. It wouldn't be something she would do in reality, but her subconscious constantly badgered her about it. Josie knew that she wouldn't be able to address her feelings as long as she was plagued by the physical reactions they gave her.

"If only there was a way to calm all this down…" she muttered to herself as moonlight streamed through a crack in the curtain. And then the ring on her finger, whose band was now a swirling dark red, began to vibrate.

She was going to kill her mother.


	16. Blinding Light

_**((I'm writing some of this, or most of it, on a train! We were nervous about ridding it, so my best friend and I dressed up as Hogwarts students and pretended we were going to Hogwarts. I'm a Slytherin for those who are wondering, he's a Gryffindor. Sorry for the lateness, I was at a friends all weekend 3 Thank everyone for the reviews! I love them))**_

Staring at the ring that she had ripped from her finger, Josie didn't know what to do. She certainly wasn't going to use it, and especially not tonight. She tossed the ring into her school bag, waiting for it to stop buzzing. It was at least thirty minutes before it did, and by then Josie was furiously writing a letter back to her mother to send in the morning. It was hours until she got any sleep, her mind plagued with thoughts and fantasies.

The next morning she lay in bed until all of her dorm mates had left, staring out the window and trying to sift through her thoughts. The dark sky made her sleepy, the clouds passing by putting her into a daze and sending her spiraling into a day dream. She dreamed of the twins, their skin pressed against hers, hands gripping her waist and their breathing matched in rhythm, leaning into each other as hands began to travel…Josie came back into reality suddenly, jumping off her bed a bit and looking around the room. Once again she was a mess of nerves, her muscles twitching and her heart pounding.

She couldn't stand it anymore. Yanking open her school bag, grabbing the ring out of it and rolling it between her fingers as the band went crimson and the ring started vibrating again. Ripping her sleep pants off and yanking the curtains around her bed, Josie finally gave into her urges for the twins and got rid of her frustration as quietly as she could.

As the rest of the month came and went, Josie's affliction only got worse. The twins stuck to her like glue, barely ever leaving her side. She was confused as to why they suddenly got even more attached to her, but she enjoyed in none the less. They also appeared to be a lot more flirtatious than usual, but that may have been because they were around her more.

During the longer practice hours in the every dropping temperature, the twins had taken to lending her their outerwear while she sat and watched them practice, even though she had a winter coat. The new oddity did not end there though. They had kissed her on the cheek when she handed them the papers she had written for them, had picked her up and spun her around in the stands when Ravenclaw completely destroyed Hufflepuff in their match, playfully teased her more often, and all around just became more involved in her life than they had before.

After practice one evening the twins dragged Josie to duck back behind the team and return to the pitch, unlocking the door to the locker rooms and slipping inside. She stood silent and confused by the door way, watching Fred drag a bag out from behind a row of broom lockers and George unlock the door onto the field. It was a little too silent for her liking.

"What are we doing?" She asked softly, pushing the bangs that had been squished down by George's hat out of her eyes. "Testing something." Fred answered as he slung his bag over a wide shoulder and held a hand out to her. She took it hesitantly, a blush chasing away the chill on her cheeks as he led her out the door. The two of them shrugged off their uniforms, and Josie immediately flashed onto the image of them shitless, her face going scarlet. She pushed it from her mind the best she could and watched them set up whatever they were doing, the silence broken by the rustle of them shifting through their bag.

"So what are we testing?" she asked, jumping out of the way when a bright purple ball rolled towards her. "We're testing some fireworks we've been working on; you're going to enjoy the show." Fred said, walking over to her as he slide his scarf from around his neck and laid it around hers, winking at her before walking back to his brother. Josie sighed as her cheeks flushed, leaning against the wooden frame work of the stands surrounding the field.

A few minutes later, Fred and George had set up a line of fireworks to be set off. "You know if you leave scorch marks on the field you're getting walloped, right?" Josie asked, her arms crossed as he watched them. "Not if you don't tell. Besides, the grass is too wet to burn." George answered as he stood beside her, Fred lighting the first one and joining them. The explosive took off with a pop, twisting up a few yards above their heads before crackling and snapping into the shape of a fairy, like the ones floating around Professor Flitwick's classroom for Christmas, but the size of a house. It spun and flew off higher, almost passing the barrier between them and the eyes of the school, the stands, before it exploded into bright white lights that put the stars to shame.

They set them off one after another, Josie applauding each display, a small Chinese dragon, a golden snitch, a pair of broomsticks, a shattering visage of Snape's face, multicolored explosions that never seemed to end. Each lifted Josie's spirits, her heart swelling with joy as the three of them stood there in the dark, smiling and laughing for what seemed like hours as the twins tested each one of their new designs, only one of them failing. A troll that was supposed to swing a club and shatter into pieces stopped short on its swing and ended up hitting itself in the face. Josie didn't think it was a total failure; it was a failure to them.

The sky was pitch black and covered in stars when the last one was set off, Josie's head resting against Fred's shoulder as George lit the fuse, a lollipop they had given her hanging from her lips. A single red spark shot into the sky and delayed there, for a moment Josie thought it hadn't worked. But the second she took the candy from her mouth to comment, the red spark burst upward into a green line, and petals began to unfurl from the top to take shape of a flower. She felt their gaze on her as she watched, but she was too captivated by their work to address it, gasping softly as the petals shifted from red, to purple, to blue before sparking upward and falling back down again. The cluster of sparks fell into a shape, spelling out a single word.

_ Josephine. _

She was shocked, unable to move her body at all except for the heart pounding in her chest. The sucker almost fell from her fingers, but she regained function of her body just in time as the light faded into the stars. She re-wrapped it clumsily and slid it into her coat pocket, looking at the both of them as they moved to stand in front of her. "Would be a good one for Valentine's Day that one, could customize it to be the name of the object of anyone's affection. " George said. "We like it how it is though." Fred added. "But we're biased." Their voices in unison bounced around in her head. _They like it, they like…no, they must just be being nice, we're friends, there is no way they mean this in the way I want them to. _

She had to ask, their grinning at her dumbfounded expression was killing her. "Biased, what do you mean biased?" she stuttered, looking up at them. "We like the name how it is…" "But then again it's already customized to the object of our affection." The two of them had their hands shoved in their pockets, rocking back and forth on their heels in unison. If you looked at them in the darkness it almost seemed like nervousness. Josie's heart had stopped; she dug her nails into her hand to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. She wasn't.

Josie couldn't speak, the breath had been knocked out of her. She was trying to wrap her head around what they were saying, but it was hard to get a grip on anything with it spinning in circles. "Are you saying that you…like me?" she managed to squeak out, her voice soft and trembling. "Of course we are, we didn't put the big ending together for nothing." Fred grinned. "Both of you like me?" she was speaking slowly, the question hanging in the air with each beat. Their ginger hair swung as they nodded. She stared at them in long silence, her mouth hanging open in shock. It was a while before she spoke again.

"Well that makes things difficult for me…" she muttered, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. George stepped forward and pulled it out again with his thumb, the rest of his fingers resting against her jaw. "We know, but it doesn't have to difficult." He said softly, smiling at her gently. It suddenly hit her why they decided to do this all of a sudden. They knew she liked them. "You know?" her voice was suddenly louder. If Lee had told them, he was dead. "Of course we know, you're certainly not a mastermind at hiding her feelings now are you?" Fred chuckled.

Josie was turning redder by the second, her heart thudding in her chest, her stomach doing flips as anxiety flooded her mind. "I can't like both of you, I know it's possible but it's really difficult and I don't know if I'm big enough for that." She was tripping over her words, stuttering and talking too fast. "Josie." "Yes?" "Shut it."

Looking up from her fingers, she locked eyes with the two of them, and she immediately started to calm down. They were kind, caring, worried, small smiles tugging at their lips as they both reached out to take her hands, holding them tightly. "Stop worrying. " Fred said. "Everything will be fine." George added. "Just let things happen." "And trust us. "

Josie sighed, letting her heart slow down as she thought, the twins rubbing their thumbs back and forth over the back of her hand as she breathed. "I like you boys a lot." She said softly, leaning her head against the wood behind her. "We know." "It's nice to hear you say it" "Finally." She smiled, pushing off the wall and wrapping her arms around each of them, hugging them in turn. "We should clean up and go back to the castle, its late." She said softly, slowly letting go of Fred and turning to pick up her bag.

They were mostly silent on the way back to the castle, but the silence was comfortable. It wasn't until they were in the common room about to part ways that it was broken. "Can we stay here for a bit?" She so softly, surprised when they heard and turned to look at her. "Of course." They responded, the three of them all crowding onto the couch, Josie's knee's pulled to her chest as they both laid arms across the couch behind her head. It was a long time before anyone said anything, the only sound the fire crackling. "How is this going to work…?" She asked softly, leaning her head back against their arms. "We can share." They said softly, one of their fingers running through her hair gently.

Josie didn't realize she was tired until she woke up to the fire burning low. Lifting her head up, she looked around to find herself leaning against Fred's shoulder, her legs in George's lap. The twins were both awake, and turned to look at her when she moved. "Morning sunshine." George said. "Oh shut it." She muttered, sitting up and stretching. "We should go to bed." The twins agreed with her, the three of them standing up and heading towards the stairs to their dorms.

"Did you like the fireworks?" They asked in unison, stopping and looking at her. Josie smiled softly, taking off the hat and scarf they had given her. "They were brilliant." She said softly, handing them back their belongings. They paused for a moment, just looking at each other. Josie was the first to move, standing on her toes in a moment of bravery to gently kiss them on the cheek, the twins resting their hands on her hip with each kiss, pressing their lips to her cheek in return.


	17. Strike The Match

**_((Ok so this is weird to ask but can someone explain to me why my chapter An Itch To Scratch has the most views and visitors out of any chapter. It's like double/triple the amount that I usually get on a chapter. It's kind of weirding me out because I don't understand why it's that one chapter that's 14 chapters into a story. Maybe I'm paranoid. _**

**_Anyway, thank you so much for the favs and reviews, I really appreciate it. I'm sorry if people were hoping for me to reply like I usually do, but my anxiety has been through the roof lately. And I'm really sorry if people get mad that romance isn't just boiling over in this next chapter or so, but there's some other people in Josie's life that need addressing. Thanks for reading!_**

**_Oh! If anyone wants a playlist of songs I like for this fanfiction, I will link you one. But I will say I really like Tongue Tied by Grouplove for this fanfic))_**

Things didn't really change after that, the three of them just fell into a comfortable state of agreement. They like her, she likes them, and they all wanted to be together. They'd decided that they would continue showing themselves as friends to the rest of the student body and see where things went. The only thing that really changed in them was that they seemed to be more comfortable around each other, the twin's becoming less restrained around her and Josie calming down a bit, ceasing to worry about hiding her feelings or worrying about them not liking her. They still continued to make her flustered almost constantly, but she didn't have to worry about trying to hide it anymore. The twins teased her when she did become flustered around them, but it was playful.

It was snowing quite heavily the last day of Quidditch practice before the break, Josie sitting on a blanket on the edge of the field where she had stood the night fireworks ignited. She was wrapped up in her coat, George's hat covering her ears as both the twin's robes fluttered from their place around her shoulders in the breeze that had made its way onto the field. The team was not at its best today, the coming holidays distracting them from their drills.

Josie sat with her arms around her knees, her head on her arms as she thought. Earlier in the day a couple of Slytherin boys had jokingly complimented her and berated her when she thanked them, and their actions had taken a toll on her. She'd become so accustomed to the comfort and support she received when around her friends that any negativity affected her more than did earlier in the year. She was snapped from her thoughts when Wood called the practice off early, irritated at their lack of concentration. The team filed through the door into the locker rooms, Josie remaining where she was until Fred nudged her with his broomstick and helped her up, George picking up the blanket and her bag as they trailed far behind the rest and landing themselves the last one in the locker rooms.

"Are you alright? You seem out of it." George commented as he put his broom and bat away, Fred doing the same. Josie looked up from the speck of snow she had been staring at, removing their robes from her shoulders and tossing them into their waiting hands. "I'm fine." She said softly, tucking hair behind her ear. They both moved towards her, standing in front of her and taking one of her hands each between theirs. "You don't seem fine." "What's wrong?" "Who said what?"

Sighing, Josie scuffed her shoe against the floor. "Nothing, just dumb boys… "What did we do?" They said together with a chuckle, obviously trying to lighten her spirits. Her lips twitched in a smile as she squeezed their hands and laid her head on George's shoulder. "Just making fun of me….I guess I got used to feeling good about myself so it hurt more than it should." She mumbled, glancing up at the two of them. "Don't listen to other people, just listen to us." Fred said, grinning at her. "That's a slippery slope."

The twins chuckled at her, squeezing her hands. "You're beautiful Josie" "Don't listen to people like that." She smiled, straitening up and looking at the both of them. They just looked at each other for a very long time, Josie's fingers rhythmically tightening and releasing theirs to the beat of her pulse as the wind beat against the wooden walls.

Her eye's darted to Fred's lips when his tongue ran across them, then to George's as he grinned a bit and the tips of his teeth could be seen between them. She didn't know what came over her, but she let go of their hand as her blood rushed through her body rapidly and her heart pulled her forward.

Josie leaned upward on her toes, placing a hand behind their necks to pull them down to her as she pressed her lips softly against each pair of theirs in turn. The kisses were short and shy, her lips quivering as they fit to theirs and she was engulfed in the warmth of their flame. Her frozen toes curled and her shaking hands dug fingers into their skin as she felt the rush of them. She was completely at ease in herself yet a live wire, her hearing deafened by her pounding heart but heightened by the quiet that surrounded their moment.

The three of them stood with foreheads pressed together after the kiss ended until Josie cleared her throat of her shaking breath and took their hands again, the three of them heading back up to the castle, where Josie was going to write another letter to her mother as they lay in silence by the fire.

It was almost Christmas when she finally learned what was in the note her mother had written them, Fred suddenly announcing it at lunch the day before break. "Your mother invited us over for a visit by the way." He said between bites of mashed potatoes. "She already talked to ours, she said its fine." George added. Josie almost choked on a kernel of corn. "She did what?" Her voice jumped in pitch as she spoke, causing the twins to laugh. "Stop worrying, it just for a day. We'll get there in the morning, spend the day, and go home that night." "Do you not want to spend every waking moment with us." Fred said as he bat his eyes at her. "I have to bathe sometime." She mumbled, glancing at them as she picked up her glass of water. "We can help with that." This time she really did choke, sputtering on her water as she inhaled it, giving the twins a good laugh. "If they're pulling this stuff just after a couple of weeks then you're in trouble." Lee said. "Yeah double trouble." Josie mumbled as she cleared her throat.

"When are you coming over?" She asked a few moments later. "The day after Christmas, we're coming by portkey." George answered as they got up and headed for Charms, their arms linked together. " And I'm guessing my mother set this up. How does your mother feel about all this?" Josie asked as they climbed the stairs. "Glad to get us out of the house." They said together, entering the classroom and preparing for the last lesson before Christmas. The rest of their time at school before break was spent dragging through classes and meals, and packing up their things to go home for Christmas, and Josie worrying about seeing her family now that she's changed a bit since they last saw them.

Her stomach began to ache as she packed her bags and put Georgette in her cage, all of which were magically whisked away before she head down into the common room to wait on Fred, George and Lee so they could all head to the train together. It wasn't long after Percy had come through the portrait for the second time in two minutes to say goodbye to his girlfriend that the twins thundered down the stairs with Lee on their heels, all three of them jumping the last few steps and earning a stern look from their brother.

George stuck a bow onto Josie's head as they leaned on the back of the couch next to her, both of the twin's hands full of ribbon and bows. "Are you two wrapping presents?" she asked as she removed the bow from her hair and stuck it to the front of Fred's sweater. "We thought we'd decorate a bit on the way out. Add a bit more interest before everything becomes dull while we're gone." George said, turning his head to look at Percy as he called up the stairs to the girl's dormitory after Penelope Clearwater that he would write her everyday.

"Hey Percy! Why don't you just stay here with Pen-el-o-pee!" Fred called out in a singsong voice, catching his brother's attention. "Then she can deal with you!" George added. Percy looked annoyed and started to head towards the portrait, glaring daggers at them. "It'll be like a present for everyone." Josie said through her giggling. The twins looked at each other, grinning before unrolling their ribbon and jumping towards their brother.

"We'll help wrap!" they yelled as they took off, rolling out the ribbon as they circled Percy, wrapping him in ribbons as they ducked under each other to tie a knot. Percy began to yell at them, berating them as they walked back to Josie, handing her a bow and following her as she headed towards the portrait in a fit of giggles. Fred jumped in front of her before she passed Percy, swinging is arm out dramatically in his direction.

"Would you like to add the final touch, madam?" He said as properly as he could. Josie snorted and shook with laughter, looking at Percy before sticking the bow to his cheek and stepped back with them to admire their work. Fred and George linked arms with her, leading her out of the portrait and downstairs to leave for the train.

The ride home from Hogwarts was full of excitement, everyone chattering and moving from car to car, not able to sit still. Josie sat in a car in the back of the train with Lee and the twins, the four of them doing what they did best; joke around and eat sweets. They were trying different flavors of Berti Botts Every Flavor Beans; Lee forced to swallow a soap-flavored bean as Josie laughed at his expression. "You three need to write me as much as possible, I don't want to miss anything." She said, sifting through her box to try and find an Éclair-flavored bean. "And if you don't you're buying me candy." She added with a point in their direction.

"We will, calm down." George said, chuckling at her. "You're worse than out mother sometimes." Fred added. Picking up a Spinach flavored bean, she tossed it at his nose. "Eat your vegetables." Her voice cracked with laughter, Lee laughing along with her as the twins looked at each other and grinned. "We'd rather have something sweet." They winked at her, chuckling softly. "Cherry then" She giggled as she threw two Cherry flavored beans at them, causing Lee to howl and the twins to send candy flying in her direction. After pelting each other with beans, the four of them picked them up and settled in for the last two hours before they arrived, Lee Jordan staring out the window and dozing off as Josie moved to sit between the twins, their arms wrapping around her. They talked quietly for a while about their plans for the break, what their families did for Christmas, and the secret passageways the twins wanted to show her when they got back.

They were half an hour away when Lee awoke to Josie staring out the window at the snow covered fields, being lulled to sleep by the wind howling outside the train while the twins rubbed the back of her hands with their thumbs. Lee cleared his throat, and darted his eyes to the twins when Josie looked at him. She raised her head from Fred's shoulder to look up at him, catching him looking down at her with a small smile, George doing the same.

"What?" She asked softly, stretching her back a bit. "Nothing." The twins said together, letting go of her hands to ruffle her hair. She scowled at them, and fixed it the best she could as the four of them stood to shrug back into their coats and got ready to leave. The train pulled to a stop and people started to file down the hallway off the train, Lee slipping out the door and leaving Josie behind with the twins. She waited until the line of students had thinned out, not wanting to become cramped in the narrow hall.

As the last few groups walked past Josie shrugged her bag up onto her shoulder, realizing she was wearing Fred scarf as it twisted around the strap. She pulled it off from around her neck, holding it out to him with a small smile. "You may need that." She said softly. He took it from her hands, smirking a bit as he circled it back around her neck before pulling her closer by the ends and pressing his lips softly to hers. "You keep it. I'll probably get another for Christmas." He said when he pulled away from the kiss and Josie's eyes fluttered open. He pushed pass her and out the open door, and Josie was turned around by her hips as George pressed his lips to hers and winked at her when he pulled away. He took her hand and tugged her out the door, the three of them thundering down the hallway.

They went to find their luggage after stepping onto the platform, Josie standing on her toes to try and catch sight of her parents. She didn't see them anywhere, but her eyes landed on a duo of ginger hair being led down the platform by a round, wild haired woman that Josie could only guess was Mrs. Weasley. The twins were soon spotted by her, their names called out over the crowd as a man that must have been their father waved when they looked up.

They looked at Josie, eyes twinkling mischievously as she wrapped her arms around their necks and hugged them tight. "See you soon." She said as they pulled away, smiling brightly. "See you soon." They chimed together, grinning at her before heading towards their family, the group of ginger hair slowly growing as the Weasley children found their parents.

She wandered near the group to get away from the luggage so others could find their things, looking around for her parents. It was merely second that she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned into the arms of her father, picking her up in a tight hug. She smiled as he released her, and was pulled into the arms of her mother, who held her much longer than her father had. "Bonjour." She said through a laugh, taking her mother's hand as she pulled back and beamed at her daughter. "Bonjour mon cheri!" Her mother said excitedly, her pink stained grin wide to show bright white teeth.

Delephine Desmarais was a beautiful woman, the brown hair that Josie shared with her tumbling down around her flushed cheeks and slim shoulders. Brown eyes stared into blue as they looked at each other, as if something had changed between them, which it had. Her mother looked at her with new pride and light, glancing up at her father and smiling. "She looks so pretty, oui?" she asked him through her accent, Josie turning to look up at her father along with her.

Andre Desmarias was a very tall and lean man with an impressive mustache, the eyes he gave to Josie peering from under thick blonde eyebrows. His freckled cheeks puffed out as he grinned with gap teeth, petting his daughter's hair gently. "She's beautiful." He said, picking up Josie's luggage. Her mother took her hand, and the followed their father as he led them off the platform. They had barely gotten a few feet when her mother leaned to her ear.

"So where are they?" she asked softly with a devious smile. Josie rolled her eyes with a light laugh, looking behind her shoulder at the bustling group of gingers that were still standing by a pillar to sort out their luggage. Her mother looked with her, her curiosity obviously getting the best of her. "The two twins with longer hair, standing on the luggage cart." She said as she began to giggle when she saw them, Fred and George balancing on top of their luggage. They caught her eye and waved, nodding towards her mother when Delephine gave a short wave in their direction.

"They're gorgeous." Her mother laughed as she squeezed Josie's hand, causing her daughter to blush. The two women looked forward again as they passed through the barrier and followed her father as he headed towards Diagon Alley so they could return home his way, by floo.


	18. Far Away

_**((If my writing is starting to really suck guys please tell me. Reviews are welcomed and appreciated! Sorry if this chapter is kind of boring, I didn't want to jump into anything too much and I was having anxiety of my fic today. Not fun. 3 Thank you to everyone who followed recently))**_

The familiar air of Chateauroux filled her lungs as they exited the small wizard's café in the old downtown area in which her family lived along with the rest of the wizarding population. Josie tugged up Fred's scarf around her face as the cold chill that blew through the old boulevards stung her cheeks. The Desmarais home was one of three "small" apartments over a pastry shop owned by a wizard couple that lived next to them, her mother's studio just next door. The building was ancient, the walls covered with snow dusted ivy kept living by a charm the owners cast each year, the bright green brilliant against the white walls and frost.

Her father opened the door to the stairs, the entrance secluded in the small alleyway between two buildings, and the family of three rushed in, Josie leading the way up the spiraled metal stairs to the landing. Taking the keys from her father, she unlocked the boring brown door and entered the home she had grown to miss. The apartment was much larger on the inside due to the glory of magic, the seemingly small one bedroomed with kitchenette apartment branched out through reality into their four bedroom, two bathroom home that Josie had grown up in. The rooms were decorated in deep reds and purples, dark wood meeting bright white walls that were scattered with art and photographs, gold light fixtures lighting the rich space. Her mother was an artist, her canvas branching from her easel to her home.

In a fit of un-ladylikeness, Josie took off across the foyer and into the living area, flipping over the back of the deep red ornate couch and scrambling to the balcony windows to look out across the city, old architecture dusted with snow and the castle in the distance. Wizards in swirling robes walked the streets of the magic market, children bundled in thick coats following blonde witches in pale frocks doing their Christmas shopping as they came and went from the stores below. She returned the pale gold curtains to their place before turning when the fireplace caught, flames brushing against the white brick as her father returned his wand to his pocket.

He smiled at her, walking over and ruffling her hair. "I'll take your things to your room. "He said, kissing the top of her head and heading down the hallway. Her mother had been left standing in the doorway, smiling softy when she caught her daughters eye before walking over to her. "We'll go out for tonight and tomorrow I will make a big breakfast. Mr. and Mr. Giroux are bringing you a box of your favorites to welcome you home." Her mother spoke in soft French, Josie struggling to fall back into hearing it. Her father spoke in English to her, because he had wanted her to be bilingual, but her mother struggled with speaking anything but French. She could write English well enough, but speaking was harder for her. Her mother only learned it in the first place because when she had met her father he was re-learning French after moving back into the country to take care of his parents, and Delephine had decided to attempt to learn English to make the growth of their relationship easier. This was a story Josie had heard on every single anniversary they'd had since her birth.

"Thank you." Josie said softly in French. Her mother took Josie's hands between her own, kissing them. "I'm glad to have you home Josephine." She said softly, her eyes sparkling with pride. "You've grown so much in just a few months, I'm very proud of you…and I'm sorry for not seeing earlier that you were not going to be the girl I was convinced you needed to be." Josie smiled, nodding her head slightly and looking at the ground. "I tend to go by Josie now by the way…" she stuttered softly, worried of her mother's reaction. "Do you want to be called that?" "If it's not too much to ask." "Then Josie it is." Her mother said with a gentle smile. "Thank you." She said softly, smiling widely as her anxiety lightened.

The sound of paws softly thudding across wood floor pulled them from their mother daughter moment, and Josie looked up in time to see a small tabby kitten jump onto the top of the couch and mew softly at her. She walked over to pick up the young cat, its tail puffed out as it sniffed her new Hogwarts smell.

Jones was a small mostly blonde tabby with a crooked tail and golden eyes. Josie had gotten the tiny kitten in the middle of the summer, and it hadn't grown much at all since then. She cuddled the kitten under her chin as she moved towards her room, Jones mewing repetitively in excitement. After passing her father in the hallway, Josie nudged open the door to her room with her toe, slipping in the crack of the doorway.

Her suit case sat at the end of her bed, open as the clothes flew out of it and separated into clean and dirty, a spell probably cast by her father. The clean clothes folded themselves and went into the open draws of her pale grey dresser, the dirty ones piling themselves on the floor to be washed. Jones wriggled out of her arms and jumped onto the platform her bed sat upon, curling up in the cat bed that sat below her pillow.

Josie flicked on the lamp that sat in the corner of her room and drew open the curtains of her small window, the setting sun casting an orange glow across the thick black rug and deep blue blankets. She hadn't realized how much she had missed her room, the comfort of her bed surrounding her as she threw herself back against the collection of pillows and the fluffy comforter, her old stuffed rabbit flopping over from her sudden arrival. The room was very much Josie, meaning it was very much what Josie needed in a bedroom. It was comforting and calm, the dim lights, soft materials and cool colors keeping her anxiety to a minimum. Posters of muggle bands and movies, paintings her mother had done for her, quotes, and photographs covered her walls, colors standing out against the white paint. Stars covered her ceiling, something her mother had painted her when she was very small by her request, her father enchanting the painting to move with the stars in the sky not matter what time of day it was.

She had just noticed a vase of blue and white roses amongst the clutter on her dresser when her father popped his head into the room. "You should probably get ready to go out for dinner lapin, it's getting late and your mother is hungry. And you know how she is when she's hungry." He made a frightened face to signify the nightmare her mother was when she hadn't eaten enough, causing Josie to giggle as she sat up. "Give me a minute, I won't be long." She said softly, getting up and heading towards her closet, an indent in the wall with a curtain in front of it.

Many of the clothes Josie owned would make her grandmother squirm, much to Josie's delight. Her grandmother thought she should wear mostly white and pale pink, only dresses and skirts and pretty pinch-y shoes, the elderly woman set on her granddaughter being the picture of ladylike closet was mostly dark purples, all shades of blues, white, silver, black, and the new found assortment of red and gold from her father's gifts. Josie pulled on a knitted shirt and long skirt, slipping into an old pair of boots and a thick jacket, patting Jones on the head before heading out her bedroom door.

Splashing water on her face and shaking her hair out in the bathroom, she faltered before she went to meet with her parents, ducking back into her room to grab Fred's scarf off her bed and turn off the light. The floor creaked under her feet more than she remembered, her stomach churning uncomfortably at the thought she might have put on more weight at Hogwarts. She had thought she felt more jiggle than usual while cheering at the last Quidditch match, her tights squeezing her thighs more than usual.

Her father found her staring at the floor boards in front of the bathroom, her lip swollen between her teeth and her mind swimming with the negativity that the twin's light had always pushed into the shadows. Woolen yarn was clutched between her fingers as she rung the scarf in her hands. She was snapped out of her thoughts by a rough hand taking hers, her eye's focusing on the matching set that belonged to her father, the tall man crouched in on himself to look up at her. His forehead was set in lines of worry, something it had done since she was little whenever she had an attack.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly, blue eyes fierce with worry as he stared at her. Josie reached out her hand to trace the lines in his skin with her thumb; her heart falling at the realization that she had given him those. "I'm sorry." She muttered softly. Her father cracked a smile, standing up and taking her hand. "You always used to do that when you were little. Your hand was much smaller compared to my head then." He chuckled. Josie smiled, the expression halfhearted. "Guess everything got bigger." She muttered, but the words did not catch on her father's ears as he led her by the hand towards the front door where her mother waited for them.

They ate dinner at a small restaurant a street down from the apartment, and returned to their home with full stomachs and light hearts. She had told her parents everything she could about Hogwarts, talking excitedly for hours over the multiple courses that she had forgotten came in a French meal. She returned home and took the longest hot shower she had ever taken before heading into her room to bury herself under her blankets.

But once she entered the room she was struck by something that was not there when she left. A sweater was laid across her bed, Jones curled up underneath one of the sleeves. She was confused as to why it had been set there and not put in her closet or into the laundry by the spell. The answer was soon given upon closer inspection. George Weasley's sweater had gotten mixed in with her clothes when she had packed, and the spell her father had cast had not known what to do with it since it was not her clothing.

Josie sighed, promising herself to write them a letter in the morning before climbing in under the covers, Jones settling in on her pillow by her head. The stars above her moved slowly as the earth turned, and she found herself thinking if Fred and George could see the same stars she could, or if they could even see them at all from where ever they were. Her mind continued to wander, unable to find a place to settle so she could fall asleep. After what seemed like hours she became annoyed with her restlessness, and grabbed a book from the drawers beneath her bed to read by the light of candle on her nightstand. After a while of reading, in a state of drowsiness, Josie grabbed the sweater off the end of her bed and pulled it on over her nightdress to fight the chill that was creeping through the window panes.

She soon tumbled into dreams of the twins, her fingers tucked between the pages of her book, the smell of gunpowder and chocolate filling her with each slow, soft breath taken from between still kiss tingled lips.


	19. Someone Thats Not Me

((_**Please keep the reviews coming guys! I appreciate it so much and it really helps me with motivation. Next chapter will have the twins!))**_

The week was a whirlwind of normality, and Josie became thoroughly annoyed with it very quickly. Days without the twin's antics were days that passed far too quickly, no pranks or flirtatious happenings to make one stand out from the other. She hung around the pastry shop and her mother's studio, her father away during the day time to work at the French branch of the Ministry of Magic obliviating muggle memories of magical happenings, her mother usually locked in her studio painting the day away.

Her quill scratched against her parchment as she sat in the shop below her room, the smell of rising dough and caramelized sugar filling her lungs as cool air blew in from the constantly opening door, people filling in to get the first batches of pastries hot from the oven. She sat in a corner by the window, a cup of hot chocolate and a platter of fruits and baked goods in front of her, wrapped up in the sweater that she wore in rotation with the scarf, both of which did not belong to her. The sleeves fell around her hands as she wrote in languid strokes, her writing bubbling across the parchment as she signed it.

_"Dear Fred and George _

_ I hope your break had been okay so far, even though it's only been a week or so. I'm sure Percy has a giant stick up his ass; so I hope you're doing your best to "entertain" him. Just make sure to keep Ginny out of the way. She doesn't deserve to have her hair turned violet right before Christmas, as lovely as it would look on her. _

_ I can't wait for you two to come over; I'm going to need friends after the ordeal that is Christmas with my grandmother. She's definitely not someone you would like, very stuck up, and likes for me to act like a proper lady. She is a muggle though, and so many of them are obsessed with looks and how others perceive them. Many wizarding folk are too, especially in this region, but she's the worst of the worst. "Back strait. Legs together. Always serve men first. Eat small bites. Don't clean your plate. Never eat more than a few bites of desert. You should have a boyfriend. You're not flirting around with too many boys are you? Don't dress like that you look like a harlot. Why are you dressed like that, you look so plain. Have you learned how to cook better? You have to be polite. Keep your thoughts to yourself, its improper to share them all. You need to dress up more, you can't wear sweaters constantly. " Blah blah blah. Some of her rules are so strange; they're not even from our culture. She reads all these translated magazines from America, they're from decades ago. It's going to be hell, I know the manners I once had have faded from being around you two and Lee constantly. Luckily my mother seems to have realized that I'm not to be molded by her or my grandmother after seeing how much better I've gotten since starting Hogwarts._

_ I told mother that she hadn't known what she was getting into by inviting you two over; she's taking me out today to buy food to feed you two, since neither of you have an end to your stomach. She's probably going to bombard you with questions and fawn over you. She's very excited that I have friends, even more excited that I feel anything besides anxiety and worry towards someone. She doesn't know about what happened in the locker rooms, though she'll probably badger me enough about if anything…like that… had happened to drive me to tears and she'll know soon enough. She doesn't let up, she's besides herself with the fact that I actually…well, like the both of you. _

_ Anyway, I apologize in advance for any badgering or awkward moments she may give. She'll probably ask you a thousand questions even though I told her we're not even sure what to do about it being three of us liking each other. She doesn't seem to think it's an issue. She keeps going on and on about how much I've changed in the last few months. I guess I have, I didn't really notice. I don't know if anyone else did. _

_ Tell your mother I said thank you for letting you come over, and to expect a box of pastries and probably other things coming home with her sons. _

_ P.S. Fred, your scarf is very warm and I'm guessing your mother made it. George, my cat has grown fond of your sweater being his bed, you may have trouble getting it back. _

_ See you soon,_

_ Josie Desmarais"_

Her mother walked in at that moment, a small golden bag nestled in the crook of her arm as she sat across from Josie at the small table, watching her daughter roll up the parchment and tie it closed with a red ribbon.

"I always wondered why you send your letters like that." Delephine said with a small smile, Josie rolling her eyes and sipping her hot chocolate. "That's how you've sent your letters ever since I was born." she said back, taking a bite of a strawberry. "This is very true." Her mother picked a raspberry from the plate, glancing at her daughter. "Don't cross your legs like that dear, it's not how a lady sits."

Josie sighed, sliding her legs closed and sipping the last of her drink. Her mother had been so good about not nagging her about her manners or being proper, but old habits were hard to break. She knew Delephine had been told the same things by her own mother, but that didn't change that it bothered her. Soon after her mother sat down, it was decided they should leave to shop for Christmas and groceries before it got too late and the shops filled up.

They were in a boutique on the muggle side of downtown, her mother busily shopping around for presents for her sister in law. Josie sat on an overly stuffed fainting couch, staring at her daydreams reflected the crystals of the chandelier hanging over head. She was lost in an embarrassing vision of red hair and freckled skin when her mother threw a pile of clothes onto her lap with an exclamation of "Try these on!" Causing Josie to jerk violently and almost throw herself into the floor from surprise. Looking at the pile of fabric in her lap, she sighed loudly and stood to face the terror that was a dressing room.

The door shut behind her, and she tried to not look in the mirror as she changed into the first thing her mother had picked out, a white dress that clung far too tightly to her stomach. The only thing she could say nice about it, which she tried to do with any clothing she tried on, was that the tightness did keep the extra squish around her middle from jiggling as much if she jumped. Which she did before taking it off and putting it back on the hanger, reaching for the next garment her mother had thrust upon her.

To her surprise she found that a skirt her mother had picked out hung off her full hips loosely even after being zipped up. Quite a few of the clothes her mother had picked out hung looser than needed off her, which puzzled Josie greatly. _I couldn't have gotten smaller; I eat too much at school. _She thought to herself, but upon further inspection she realized the clothes were indeed her size. She sat on the ornate chair in the dressing room in her underwear in confusion, not moving until her mother knocked on the door softly and asked if she was okay. Josie poked her head out the door, ill-fitting clothing in hand.

"I think I need a smaller size." She muttered softly, not sure how to feel about the situation. Her mother must have noticed her apprehension, because instead of over reacting like she usually would, she simply smiled and went to find smaller sizes of the clothes handed to her.

Josie felt off the rest of the day, not sure how to feel about the change. She wasn't too insecure about her size, but it did bother her at times. Her mind was mostly boggled at the fact that she had lost weight at all eating the way she did at Hogwarts. She expected the large quantities of sweets and food would cancel out the constant running around with the twins and stair climbing, but she was obviously wrong. She didn't think long about it, her mind pulled elsewhere as they arrived home, her father instantly bombarding her and her mother with the story of today's work as he helped them carry their bags up the metal staircase, his tale continuing through Josie sending Georgette off with her letter to the twins and the dinner her father prepared that night.

Soon enough Christmas came, Josie's mother beside herself with preparing presents before they left for her grandparents' house, a large old home in the country side near Paris which members of the French side of the family met every year on Christmas Eve. She was thankful she was on the wizarding side of the family, the three hour trip shortened to a few minutes by her father's magic. Josie kept her hand in her pocket, fingers brushing the parchment of Fred and George's latest letter to her as she waited for the very large front door to open, her other hand holding a bag full of gifts for the children of the family to open in the morning, and for the adults on her mother's side to open on New Year's day. Since the families lived so far apart from each other, they had long ago decided that Christmas would be spent with her mother's side and New Years with her father's.

"_Dear Josie_

_ Don't worry; Percy is more excited to have us out of the house than mom is. His skin was blue for a few days, he "accidentally" ate one of our experimental sweets, and he found his badge inside his dinner bread last night, he's had an interesting break so far. We'll tell him you send your love and miss him greatly. I'm sure he'll swoon at a the thought of a girl as pretty as you giving him the time of day. _

_ Your grandmother sounds like she needs a good shock to set her strait. We could bring a box of our newer (and untested) items for a late Christmas gift. Maybe a bulbous green and purple boil on the end of her nose would get her to keep it out of other people's business, a few fireworks under her shoes would send her into this century…or blow her toes clear off but a little collateral is expected. Fred thinks we should shove her into a trunk and send it off on a faulty broomstick. _

_ Don't worry about her, it's not worth it. You're great, and if she can't see that past the ulcers on her eyelids from the toxic fumes off those stupid magazines than forget it. Muggles don't see what's right in front of them most of the time anyway. You're brilliant Josie, don't let her make you think any differently. Just because you're different from her does not make you lower than her, it makes you a thousand times better and there's no comparing you to anyone else. _

_ If your mother does ask us anything, and we're sure she will, we'll be sure to thoroughly embarrass you and give her all the details of how you passionately shoved us to the floor of the locker room and snogged us till we passed out from lack of oxygen. She's not going to be any more nagging than our mother, stop worrying about it. And stop worrying about what you, Fred and I are. Oh wow, two guys like the same girl and she likes both of them, weirder things have happened. Besides, Lee says there's actually a word for it, and that we're not the first. It's polyamory or something like that. You like us, we like you, you kissed us, we kissed you. It's done. Calm down and just enjoy it love. _

_ Mum says thank you and Happy Christmas. You can keep the scarf and sweater, we have loads. _

_ See you soon, the boyfriends_

_ Fred and George Weasley_

_Mostly George since Fred couldn't write legibly to save his life."_

_See you soon. _Josie kept repeating that over and over in her head, telling herself that if she could just get through tonight she would see them tomorrow and have a day to enjoy their company. Her heart had not stopped beating widely since she read the letter the evening before, the sweetness shown in the writing giving her a permanent flush which her mother commented on many times as she tried to get Josie to tell the details of her first kiss. Of course her mother had gotten the news out of her, jokingly threatening to intercept the next letter if she didn't tell. Josie knew that her fingers wouldn't leave her pocket the entire night, and probably not until the next morning.

The door swung open, Josie's grandfather standing in the doorway wearing an apron and a grin. Josie's grandfather was a very sweet and soft spoken man who spent most of his time in his large kitchen, a complete juxtaposition to her grandmother. She was immediately pulled into a tight hug and kissed on both cheeks, his stubble tickling her cheek as he exclaimed how much she'd grown and how pretty she looked before greeting her mother and father and ushering them into the warm house. It was as annoyingly clean as always, at least by Josie's standards, every color pale and untouched by dust.

She felt very out of place in the sparkling foyer, her dark tights, bright red flats, pale gold skirt, black sweater and knitted scarf contrasting to the pale pink and yellows around her. Her parents disappeared through the arch into the living area, the loud talking signaling that the room was filled with the rest of her family. Unraveling Fred's scarf from around her neck, she slowly followed after her parents, reminding herself to speak in French as she was bombarded by her extended family. Their numbers weren't large, most of the people there her second and further cousins. Her mother had no siblings, so any family came from her grandmother and grandfather.

The females in the room gathered around the large white sofas, talking to Delephine rapidly about what she had been doing lately. Soon enough Josie was pulled into the conversation, all of her great aunts and second cousins asking about her life and the change of schools. Josie's answers remained as short and polite as possible, hoping they would grow tired of her and move onto another subject. The idea seemed hopeful, until her aunt grabbed the edge of the scarf and examined the bright red F that was sewn into the corner.

"Whose scarf is this?" she asked in a teasing voice, raising an eyebrow suggestively at the younger girl. Josie froze up immediately, beginning to stutter and blush, which was not the best reaction she could have had in this situation. Her cousin caught on to her embarrassment immediately. "Do you have a boyfriend?" Before the breath needed to answer could be taken, someone cleared their voice from behind the couch, the entire room turning to look at the newest addition to the party.

Josie's grandmother stood with her hands on the back of the couch, adorned in pearls and pale pink, bright blonde curls surrounding an overly powdered face. Josie immediately felt her stomach clench, meeting her grandmothers gaze despite her instinct to look away. Her grandmother smiled slightly, the twitch at the corner of her lips barely noticeable. "I don't think badgering a young girl about her love life is a proper topic of conversation, no matter how improper it is to wear a lovers clothing to a family gathering." She said, her voice sickeningly smoothed and rehearsed. Josie kept her eyes from rolling, thankful that her mother soon came to her aid. "It's her friend's he gave it to her took keep over the break to calm her anxiety. It's better than filling her full of chemicals. "Delephine said simply and curtly, a smile on her face as she looked up Josie's grandmother.

The rest of the night was spent with her grandmother scolding her for everything she did and was. "Your hair needs cutting; it's grown out at _that _school." "Your hands are stained with ink. Have you forgotten how to keep yourself clean?" "I thought I told you to stop wearing clothing like that. You'd think you'd dress better with an example like your mother." "You don't need any more food, that school has stretched out your stomach." "Delephine, are you sure she got smaller?" Each remark was met with a retort from Delephine and a grimace from Josie, her heart sinking lower into her stomach. But her usual dry mouth, shaking hands and twisting stomach were accompanied by white hot anger pooling in her chest. The tenseness in her muscles was released when her grandmother made a comment a little too far into personal territory after dinner, when everyone was wandering in and out of the dining area to talk.

"I don't think we have to worry about anyone wanting to seduce the girl, but you really should monitor who she hangs around with. From what you've told me they don't seem like the highest of quality. And who knows what low level of standards those people have, especially the boys her age. Unlike the people from this side of the channel, those people will go for anyone with enough bosom to hold. And those two friends of hers, the twin ones who play that frightfully violent game, sound like the type who would take advantage of someone as naïve as her. I've read stories you wouldn't believe."

Josie's hands met the table with satisfying force, the glasses shaking and her father's wine toppling over. The entire room fell hushed, and she could swear she saw her father grin from his seat next to her. "Shut up! Those two are the best thing that's ever happened to me and more family to me than you have ever been. I am beautiful with a good group of friends that like me for the person I am, and you can't stand that I'm successful and happy without your stupid regulations. Guess what? I make good marks, I have friends who care about me, I made a decision to change my life that you had no say in and it was the best thing that has ever happened to me besides being born to my mother and father. I'm sick of starving myself and shaking from anxiety, worrying I'm going to do something wrong that upsets you, I'm sick of holding my tongue so I don't cause a scene. This is my scene, not yours. I caused it, and I am its star. Get used to it."

She couldn't breathe, her entire body was shaking violently and she felt like she might faint. Josie had never said so many words to her grandmother, let alone words like that. The hairs on her arms stood up as she became aware of every eye in the room trained on her, her mother shocked behind her chair and her father a grinning bundle of pride at her side. Looking at each person in the room, she found a mix of shock, amusement and joy, most of them looking like they had waited for her to snap for a long time. Josie could barely hear her grandfather mutter "She is her mother's child…" as she sped past him and out the front door.

Hands fisted around her letter and the scarf, she curled herself up in the snow under a scrawny tree. Struggling at slowing down her breathing as tears rolled down her cheeks, she felt the air shift as her father sunk down into the yard next to her, thick arms wrapped around her as her lifted her up and carried her out the gate. Delephine came laughing out the front door with bags of unopened presents in hand, her worried words for Josie drowned out by a mutter in her ear. "That's my girl."


	20. Hush, Hush

**_((Sorry guys, I'm having trouble writing because I've lost a lot of confidence in my characters due to something having to do with my characters I RP with a friend. It just made me super depressed and writing Josie kinda got harder after that. Does anyone else do that? Is anyone else that attached to their characters that they become a part of them? Thats fixed now though, for the most part. _**

**_I also feel like I'm writing Josie completely different and that she's not the person she was at the first two chapters.  
>Yeah I know, I whine about something different every week. I'm sorry.<em>**

**_But! I'm almost at 50 story followers! Yaaaaay. Keep reviewing guys 3 It lifts my spirits.))_**

The next morning dreams of being held under fireworks were shattered by the morning sun bouncing from the snowy rooftops. Josie woke up, still in her clothing from the night before after passing out halfway into a cup of tea to stop her panic attack, to Jones pawing at her nose as her mother called from outside her door to get up. Nudging the tiny kitten off her chest, she rolled over to glance at the clock on her bedside, nearly jumping out of her skin when she looked at the time. The twins would supposed to be picked up from the portkey in thirty minutes, giving her just over an hour to get herself and her room ready.

She quickly grabbed the clothes she had chosen to wear yesterday morning, running past her mother and the basket of fresh laundry into the bathroom to quickly shower and blow-dry her hair. Throwing on her long sleeved shirt and almost tripping over the flared bottom of the dark jeans she was buttoning as she ran into her room, quickly picking up her dirty clothes hamper and the cup she drank tea from last night and ran to the put them in their desired places. Blue eyes glanced at the clock after she was through shoving her basket of clean laundry into the bottom of her closet and straitening up a few things, relieved to find she had a few minutes to spare.

Her mother joined Josie in the kitchen as she fiddled with the freshly washed dishes, quickly fixing tea and putting away anything out of place. Delephine had to have everything be absolutely perfect if people came over, thinking that she was going to be judged horribly if her home was the least bit untidy. Long tanned arms stained with paint wrapped around Josie, her mothers chin setting on the top of her hear. "About last night…" she started to say before being cut off by Josie. "I don't want to talk about it." She said softly, her stomach churning a bit. "That's fine. I'm just going to say you're not in trouble, and I'm proud that you stood up for yourself." She said, letting go of her and walking towards the living room. Josie stood there in the kitchen until she heard the key turn in the lock and her father called from the foyer. "We're here!"

Brown hair swung as she tilted her head around the corner, looking into the living area as Fred and George stepped inside. She restrained herself from wrapping her arms around them and refusing to let go until they left, instead settling on straitening her clothes one last time and hesitantly walking into the living room. Josie's day was instantly brightened when the twins turned from greeting her mother, locking eyes with her and breaking out into grins in unison. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she stood patiently beside her mother as she introduced herself and asked them questions before Fred could even set down the bag he had slung over his shoulder.

"Bonjour! It's nice to meet you. I'm Josephine's mother, and you two must be Fred and George. I'm so glad she has friends to invite over." Josie was ready to bang her head against the wall after mere minutes of her mother speaking, but the expressions the twins made while trying to understand her mother's accent were quite funny. This was undoubtedly going to be the most embarrassing day of her life.

Minutes later she was sitting on the far side of the couch away from the twins, her mother asking questions and talking to them like they were the most interesting people in the world. "So how did you meet her? I'm sure she didn't just waltz up to you and start talking to you, I'd faint from shock if she did." Her mother was saying as she twirled her wedding ring around her finger. Fred chuckled, glancing at Josie who was watching them from underneath her bangs as she chewed her lip nervously. She had a feeling that the twins wouldn't skip the chance to embarrass her in good fun. "Well we were walking through the train to see our friend…" "And we passed by an open door, and saw a pretty girl we'd never seen before. " "She looked about our age, so it was odd we didn't recognize her." "We introduced ourselves, like proper gentlemen." Josie breathed a laugh, listening intently to their side of the first time they met. "I'm sure she was a bit put off by that." Her mother said with a smile that hid a thousand words meant for Josie to pick up on.

"She was fine, very charming." "A little nervous, but she warmed up to us quickly." "Even fell into my lap when the lights went off on the train." Josie choked on the tea she was sipping on when they let that bit of information, looking at them in shock while she fought the urge to kick them in the shins. Her mother giggled elegantly as Josie sent them a look from across the couch before clearing her throat. "It was an accident." She said shakily, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "It was a lucky one." George said, grinning at her.

Her mother asked how Josie did in school compared to everyone who's been there for years. "Better than half of us, Lee refuses to do his homework without her in the room." Fred said, chuckling a bit. By the time her mother really got into the territory of their relationship, Josie was in the kitchen making more tea, most of which she had sipped away herself out of nervousness. Ornate patterns tickled her fingers as she moved the teapot back onto the tray, the cups rattling as she picked up the tray and headed back towards the kitchen. She wished she had taken Fred up on his offer to help, the first words she heard when entering the room causing her to lose her grip on the tray and nearly drop it. "So I heard she kissed you after a sports practice."

The hitch in her breath drowned out their answer. The bowl of cookies her mother had bought from downstairs fell off the tray as it tipped dangerously, hot tea spilling on to Josie's hand as she lowered it to the floor. Fred and George were at either side of her instantly, her mother close behind them. "Are you alright?" George asked, taking her hand that had begun to shake as anxiety pumped through her blood. Fingers pushed hair behind her ear, the movement drawing her eyes up to Fred's face as time slowed around the three of them. The panic drained from her eyes as they scanned over furrowed eyebrows, flushed freckled cheeks and deep eyes. Her head turned to the hands that were holding hers, turning over the tea stained skin to check for burns as George wiped off the hot liquid. Slightly calloused fingers grazed over her skin as he bent down to look her in the eyes, stopping her hyperventilating in its tracks. "I'm fine, just lost my grip." Josie's mother drug her to the kitchen to look at her hand, Fred and George picking up the tray and dropped sweets before following close after.

After that crisis had been taking care of, the subject that Josie so desperately wanted to be forgotten was brought up again. Through the wall between the living room, Fred and Josie could hear Delephine ask the dreaded question as George helped her clean up. Josie regretting listening to her mother and staying in the living room with Fred to hold ice on her hand, now she couldn't stop the question from being asked. "So, she kissed you first?" her mother's muttered voice asked, Josie's head snapping to look in her direction quick enough to give her whiplash. Fred chuckled beside her, holding her hand between his to keep the ice on it, his thumb stroking her palm as she listened to the conversation going on behind them.

"Uh, yeah. She did, kind of out of nowhere really." George paused. "I guess it makes it even, since we're the ones who told her we liked her first." "So it was just that once?" She was going to strangle her mother for being so nosey, even by Josie's standards it was impolite. George's chuckle came the exact moment Fred's did beside her as he moved closer and laid an arm across the couch behind her. "Not exactly. I don't mean to be impolite mam, but your daughter's beautiful, if anyone got to know her they wouldn't be able to keep away either. " Georges words made her heart skip a bit, her cheeks turning red as she looked towards Fred questioningly an argument hanging from her lips. It was silenced before she could say anything, her words catching in her throat as Fred's fingers played with her hair and smiled at her when he spoke. "It's true."

The next question barely reached her ears through the thudding in her chest. "Is it going to be a relationship officially any time soon?" "As soon as she accepts." Fred said just as George did in the other room, leaning over to kiss her cheek gently and smirk at her dark crimson blush. Her mother and George appeared moments later, Josie clearing her throat to fight off her flustered state as Delephine picked her bag up off the couch, heels clicking loudly as she headed to the door. "I'll be going now, be home in time to start dinner for the five of us. Have anything you want from the refrigerator, and don't wander too far if you leave the house." She said it all so quickly Josie didn't realize she was leaving until she was at the door. "Have fun!" Her mother called as the door closed and her parent left her alone. In the apartment. With two teenage boys. _You think she'd have better judgment. _Josie thought, before realization hit her that her mother knew exactly what she was doing. Looking at the set of grinning faces in front of her, Josie started planning exactly what she was going to do to her mother when she got home.

She was going to thank her.


	21. Just Forget The World

_**((I now have two friends badgering me to post new chapters XD Oh...I also made a Weasley twins tribute...if anyone wants to watch it. Anyway.**_

_**Sorry that I fooled some of you into thinking there was going to be some more...intimate stuff in this chapter. That's soon to come I promise!))**_

An hour later, Josie was pacing her room ranting about her grandmother after re-telling them the happenings of the prior night, her fingers raking through her hair and her accent thickening as she spoke. It was only when she started talking in rapid French that the twins decided she was getting too riled up, her breathing coming in short gasps at random intervals. George was the first to get up from his spot in on the window seat, walking over to her and taking her face between his hands to stop her. "Hey, calm down." She looked up deep into his eyes and breathed to calm herself down, her hands shaking. "She's a rotten woman who doesn't deserve a beautiful, intelligent granddaughter like you. Stop letting her get to you." She nodded, laying her hand over his as they gazed at each other until she completely calmed down. The three decided to find something to eat, food always having eased Josie's nerves and the two boys getting hungry even after they'd eaten what sounded like an extensive breakfast at their home.

As Fred fixed yet another sandwich in the kitchen, George and Josie looked over the streets at the people who passed below, counting the number of times people looked up at the head of flaming red hair above them. All was well again until one of the nasty girls from the high end witches clothing shop around the corner looked up at her balcony and scoffed, nudging her equally nasty friend in the side before calling up to them. Josie knew these girls; they liked to tease her about her lack of social interaction. Even though their ridiculing of her counted as a social interaction.

"Josephine Desmarais is that a boy up there with you?!" one of them called in French, the mention of her full name grating on her nerves. "Yes, what's that mean to you?" she called back, leaning over the railing of her balcony. The girl flipped her annoyingly strait hair and placed a hand on her hip. "Tell him, whoever he is, that if he wants something better to go to the animal shop down the street. I'd offer him to come down and meet us, but if he has such little sense to be up there with you then he's not worth it." "He does look attractive actually." The other interjected, George looking at Josie confused at what she was saying. He could tell it wasn't polite, the clenching of Josie's jaw and the shakiness of her breathing showing she was irritated, and the dark blush that spread over her cheeks and ears showed her embarrassment. The first girl chuckled, gesturing to George with a wave of her hand. "She can have him. But, she's had everyone." The sentence's ending was broken by laughter.

"What are they saying?" George asked softly, leaning into her and wrapping an arm around her waist. "They're making fun of me for having a boy in my house, saying you should get with one of them, and comparing me to an animal. One called you attractive though." She said softly, beginning to chew at her lip. George scowled and glared down at the girls, watching them walk away cackling. He smirked suddenly, winking at Josie before throwing himself nearly completely over the balcony and yelling at the top of his lungs. "Oi! Watch this!" A shudder rolled down Josie's spine and settled in her lower stomach at the exclamation, the gruffness of his yelling reminding her that they could be more than playful or caring. _Why did their voices have to get so rough when they yelled? _

Both girls looked up at her, jumping at the loudness of his voice as their heads snapped up. Josie didn't what was happening, her attention brought back from the twisting in her stomach when George wrapped an arm around her waist and turned her to dip her slightly, his other hand sliding behind her neck as his lips crushed down onto hers. All the blood rushed into her cheeks, becoming light headed even though her heart was clearly pumping enough blood to her brain, beating rapidly in her chest as George's lips moved against her own. His mouth fully locked onto hers, soft lips giving her more than the simple short kisses they had shared before the break started. His grip on the back of her neck tightened as her shock wore off and she kissed him back, her hands gripping the front of his shirt as a small pleased noise made its way out of her throat. They pulled apart moments later, George swinging her back around to stand and grinning down at the two girls, who scoffed loudly and walked away in a rage, muttering something about being indecent.

Josie was leaning against the railing, her cheeks bright red and her breathing heavy. The combination of being kissed like that and George's yelling prior to it had made her completely flustered, her stomach in knots and blood pumping furiously. Fred walked out a minute later with a sandwich in hand, taking one look at Josie and then glancing in George's direction. "What did you do?" He asked, chuckling at Josie's ruffled state. His brother leaned over and whispered in his ear, a grin breaking out over Fred's face they high fived. Josie rolled her eyes, straitening herself up and heading back inside with the twins trailing her, going to wait in her room while she escaped with slumped shoulders to the bathroom to calm herself down.

_Why do they have to do that? They should know if frustrates me…_ She thought to herself as her eyes ran over her ruffled hair and flushed skin in the bathroom mirror, fighting the urge to undo the knots in her stomach quickly so she could calm down. Her insides twitched as a throaty laugh drifted across the hall from her room, followed by the sounds of shuffling. She hated that they had this effect on her, hated that they could do little simple things that made something stir inside her. And this wasn't the first time they had done this, they had been doing it so often lately that Josie became suspicious that they knew that they caused her to feel more for them than just admiration.

Fred kept playing with her hair whenever possible, always seeming to make sure to brush her neck just exactly enough to send shivers down her spine. George had stood close behind her when she was showing him something in Potions, warm breath blowing across the back of her ear and her body colliding with his when she jumped back in surprise, hips meeting her behind and his chest bumping against her back as he and his brother laughed at her reaction. The ordeal had landed all three in detention for "canoodling in that classroom" and "being disruptive wastes of my time". The entire night of re-organizing the vials behind Snape's desk had been filled with the two of them getting dangerously closer and closer to her, almost as if they were competing to see who could get the best reaction. The award went to the more adventurous of the two of course, when Fred had trapped her between his arms while the two of them were alphabetizing the non-lethal ingredients, his lips brushing dangerously against the back of her neck as he chuckled at the high pitched squeak she emitted. And then they were always staring at her. She could look up in any class at any time and catch at least one of them looking at her with the annoyingly endearing grin on their face, the one that made her heart beat quicker and her hands shake.

She was snapped out of her daydreaming, which was not helping her situation, when she heard her name from across the hall. The word was soft, included in the conversation being held inside her bedroom. Ignoring the butterflies dancing in her stomach and the weakness in her legs, Josie quickly splashed cold water across her face and down her neck in an attempt to cool off before opening the door quietly and sneaking across the hallway. Cold painted wall pressed against her back as she nestled between two paintings of flowers that swayed in the wind, listening to what the twins were saying through her half opened doorway.

The sound of a drawer closing and someone sitting down on the bed made her wonder what they were doing in there, hoping they didn't find anything embarrassing. "Think we can really pull this off?" The deeper tones in the voice told her that was George, Fred's voice following soon after. "Of course we can, we can do anything. I don't think having a girlfriend is the most outrageous thing we've attempted." He chuckled, Josie leaning in farther to hear more when she realized they were talking about her. "I know we can, we've already talked about that. I'm worried about her." "Why, think she likes me more?" The wave of pride was felt even outside the room, blue eyes rolling at his ego. Something hard hit the floor, most likely one of her books being sent in Fred's direction by his twin. "I'm being serious you sod, think of what this might do to her."

After a long silence she heard Fred sigh softly, his tone suddenly serious. "What do you mean? I care about her; I'm not going to let anything happen to her. Are you?" "Of course not, I'm not saying that we're going to do anything wrong. We've agreed to not get jealous of each other, we've shared since we were kids, and we can do it now. I'm worried that she's going to feel torn between us, or that she'll start to like one more than the other, and feel obligated to stay with both." "Or that she's going to doubt herself and think she's not enough for the both of us." "Or that she see's us as a set, not individuals." Shuffling feet signified one of them sitting down on her bed, maybe next to the other one, both of their voices taking on an insecure tone. Hearing them be anything but happy placed a seed of guilt in Josie's heart, becoming buried deeper as the silence went on. It was broken a few moments later, their words lifting her spirits a bit. "I think that she's more than she gives herself credit for. She'll be fine, as long as we don't do anything stupid that makes her think she's less than…" "Wonderful?" "Exactly."

Josie felt torn, not sure how to feel about them talking about her without her knowing, but flattered that they were worried for the relationship the three of them had. They knew her well, some of their worries valid; she did doubt her ability to keep them both interested in her, as well as her ability to handle both of them. The thought that she didn't have enough romantic feelings inside her for the both of them haunted her, the idea of leaving one of them behind or hurting one of them more painful than anything she'd ever felt.

She was snapped from her thoughts when Fred began to speak again, his voice less than optimistic. "What if we both can't have her? It is a little strange right? One girl with two boys, brothers at that. Don't you think people are going to be unhappy, even go as far as reporting it or picking on her more than they already do?" There was a long pause, and Josie held her breath so they wouldn't know she was outside the door. "Fred, have we ever really cared what people think? And do you doubt that she can't hold her own? You heard what she said to her grandmother, and to Flint. She's gotten more confident, and she's stronger than the cute little French girl we talked to at the beginning of the year. She's still Josie, just the one she can really be deep down. "

The room was quiet for a few moments, the only sound was one of them standing again and then the sound of her things moving, followed by Jones mewing softly as the bed shifted. Josie took this time as a signal to go in, pushing the door open the rest of the way and stepping into the room. The twins looked up at her, her blue eyes scanning over the room as Fred shut a drawer behind his back in what he thought was a discreet manner. Another tiny mew drew her attention to the ball of fur that was curled into the other twin's lap, disturbed from his nap when George moved to pull off his sweater. It took Josie a second of looking between the two of them, the drawer Fred had closed, and the mess of books and cd's laying across her bed for her to realize what they had been doing.

"Were you going through my things?" The question hung in the air for a minute before the two gingers grinned, shrugging their shoulders. "Just your most personal items. You have some very cute undergarments by the way." George said with a wink, chuckling when her face went scarlet with anger and embarrassment. She didn't get the chance to open her mouth to yell at them, Fred wrapping an arm around her waist and spinning her as George stopped laughing and clarified. "Just joking." "Mostly." Fred added in her ear, sending a shudder down her spine. "We were mostly going through your odd collection of… things." Fred let go of her waist and sat on the rounded bed next to George, picking up a few cd's and looking through them.

"Let me guess? You've never heard of any of these because they're not from the wizarding world." Her voice was shaky as she sat at the head of her bed, picking up the old books off the bed and stacking them on her bedside table. Fred was flipping through her cd's as George gently tried to nudge Jones out of his lap. The plastic shiny cases caught her eyes as they landed on the bed. ABBA, Nirvana, Roxette, Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, The Beatles, The Cranberries, Alphaville, Weird Sisters, Billy Joel, Bewitched, UB40, Kansas, David Bowie, the list went on and on. Not music Josie thought really fit her outer appearance, but what she liked none the less. Fred set the ones he recognized aside, looking through the one's he did not. "Are these all muggle?" He asked, holding up the leftover disks and nodding his head towards the posters on her walls. Well, the ones who weren't moving. "Yeah, of course." She answered, tucking her legs under her. The two boys looked at each other. "Dad would flip his lid." They said together.

After a long while of Josie explaining the films and bands she had posters for, the conversation changed direction when George noticed the scribbles that peeked out from behind the lamp in the corner and jumped off the bed to get a closer look. "What's that?" The sudden movement made Josie jump a bit, in turn making Fred jolt, his head resting on her thighs as he threw a small sparkling ball repeatedly into the air. All three sets of eyes shifted to the bright blue paint splattered one the otherwise bright white walls of her room, hidden in the shadows under the light. Fred got up quickly, crouching down in the corner to inspect the smears. The bed creaked as Josie shifted to lay across it on her back, watching the twins upside down. " I drew those when I was little. I got into mothers paints and decided I wanted to be creative like her. " Her explanation was met with slight nods of their heads, the two gingers bent down in front of the crude drawing of a blue butterfly and flowers, glittery silver firework streaks barely visible.

"Its cute." George grinned, standing up to look at her. "She's cute." Fred added, still looking at the doodles. "Sure." She said softly, drawing out the vowels sarcastically, obviously not agreeing with the two on that statement. Suddenly Fred was leaning over her body, his arms braced on either side of her shoulders as he looked down at her, his grin upside down in her vision. His eyes flickered over her, lingering on her chest. _Did he just…_ George sat down beside her before her question could be finished, his weight sinking the bed down as he leaned on his arm. Her eyes flicked to him in time to catch the end of him glancing over her hips and stomach to smile at her. _Did they both just...no, of course not. _

She took the situation in; feeling a bit helpless with Fred leaning over her like that, ginger hair falling around his face as he watched her run her eyes over his arms, the muscles flexed from holding up his weight. Her stomach went into knots, a tingle running down her spine to the tips of her toes when he went suddenly serious, even though the expression was obviously playful. "I thought we said not to talk bad about yourself or else." He said simply. "Technically you said that if I suggested that I weighted too much that you would turn my skin green." Josie stuttered, biting her lip after she finished talking. "Well not accepting that you're beautiful counts as well." "But the punishment is different." Fred added after his brother, his voice dropping in pitch enough to send a steady throb into her lower half. This was not going to end well.

George grabbed her, fingers brushing against her sides as she broke out into a fit of laughter, Fred going for her ribs and below her arms while George abused her stomach until she could barely breathe between giggles. Squirming out of their grip, she hit the ground running, taking off out the front door and down the stairs with the sound of bare feet thudding against metal accompanying her. She could hear the twins behind her, taking the steps two at a time. Strong arms wrapped around her, George picking her up around her waist to turn her around, but Josie caught him off balance and slipped downward out of his grip. She could hear the twins curse as they got caught up on each other, her hands meeting the door to into the alleyway as she cold air blew around her. She was halfway down the street, swerving in and out between the witches and wizards who glared at her in annoyance before getting out of the way of the two ginger haired bludgers barreling after her when she finally slowed down.

She was lifted up by Fred, his arms tucking themselves behind her knees and around her waist. She shrieked in surprise, her yelp dissolving into a fit of giggles as he spun her around. George caught up with them, poking her ribs to her squirm in Fred's arms enough to make the two boys chuckle. People stared as Fred pressed his lips firmly against hers, kissing her deeply as he set her feet back down on the ground. They broke apart a few seconds later, Fred's hand pressed into the small of her back as hers rests on his biceps. The looks they got for being so affectionate in the middle of the street were cold enough to freeze dragon fire, but Josie felt nothing but their warmth. She floated on air as George took her hand and led her back inside out of the cold, Fred's hand still resting on her back. Josie didn't care what anyone thought of them at that moment.

She only cared about them.


	22. Lets Dance For A While

_**((I'm not even going to bother you with my excuse for why this took so long to go up. I love you guys, you make my day when you review, follow, or fav. Sorry if this is terrible. I'm kind of waiting for Goblet of Fire time period so I can really get going.))**_

The three teenagers sat submerged in the sweet aroma of the pastry shop, Josie sipping on hot chocolate as they shared a custom box of her favorite sweets, made special for her and her guests. They had been sitting in the shop for a couple of hours, watching through the window as people passed by and making comments about them. George was finishing off a palmier as Fred described the distinguished life as a Pixie breeder of the bearded bachelor who walked past them, Josie sputtering into her drink. She left them moments later to get the three of them more to drink, handing the empty cups to Marius, one half of the wizard duo that owned the shop.

"Already finished? Those two eat more than your father, but that's not saying much." He muttered in French, refilling their cups. "Maybe it's just Fonteir's baking skills." She replied, watching as he shook fresh whipped cream before dispensing it over the drinks steaming surface. The deep brown eyes of the shop owner glanced at the slicked black hair of his partner peeking over the window into the bakery, a smile working its way onto his lips. Marius turned back to her, glancing at the two twins finishing off the box that once held friands, jesuites, crostades, macaroons, madelines, caneles, and many different éclairs. "If you need any more of those let me know, I'd be glad to give you whatever you'd like. He's been baking non-stop, the holidays make him so stressed." "No thank you, I'm not up to fight George for the hazelnut éclairs again." She smiled, tilting her head as he drizzled chocolate over the cream, making a decorative heart on all three.

The raise of Josie's brow was returned with a sly grin from Marius. "It's not that hard to tell, you're head over heels for the both of them. You're practically jumping into their lap every time they give you…" His eyes glanced at the table at which they sat, a smirk tugging up the left corner of his mouth. "…that look." Josie glanced over her shoulder at the two of them, finding both of them watching her, chins in their hands as their elbows rested on the table. They were grinning in that endearing way they usually did, both winking at her when she met their eyes. Josie turned back around, her face scarlet. With a glance up at Marius she picked up the three cups of hot chocolate on a tray, muttering a thank you. "They sure are cute though." She heard him mutter as she went back to the table, setting the tray down before tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Any other interesting people pass by?" She asked after clearing her throat. "Well there was one beautiful girl at the counter a minute ago." Fred grinned, nodding his head towards the place she had been standing seconds ago. Ignoring her heart picking up speed in her chest, she sipped at the liquid chocolate and looked at him from over the rim of the cup. "Maybe you should get her address so you can send an owl." She said simply, setting her drink back on the table and setting her chin in her hands. "I would but I saw her walk over to two devilishly hansom boys. Shouldn't ruin a good thing." He added, chuckling at her response. Josie snorted, grinning at the two of them while she playfully rolled her eyes.

After another round of people watching, where Josie told a very extensive story of a pig nosed blonde woman who fell down the stairs chasing after her lover and disfigured her face forever, along with George who narrated a love story between the two witches that had run into each other in the street, the three of them went back up to the apartment. Jones met them at the door, mewing loudly as he clawed up Georges tan corduroys. The twins settled themselves into looking around the apartment, Fred running his fingers over the console piano and pressing a key experimentally. "Who plays?" he asked as she moved to stand next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder as he haphazardly pressed the keys. "My father. I can play, kind of, but mostly him." She answered, watching his fingers prod at the ivory. George appeared and stood next to her moments later, setting Jones on the piano seat as he wrapped an arm around her waist. The tabby jumped onto the keys, batting at Fred's fingers before jumping up to sit next to Georgettes favorite perch, the owl hooting softly with a flutter of wings.

"You should play something." George commented, turning his head to smile down at her with his brother. "I'm not that great, it would be a wa-""Let us judge, you're too critical of yourself." She sighed, sitting down on the small padded bench. "If I suck then tell me to stop." She said quietly, watching Jones's tail swing back and forth as she started to play. She played the first song her father had taught her, his favorite song for her when she was little. Hey Jude flowed from her finger tips, softly playing the melody coined by The Beatles as they watched her, their gaze burning into the back of her neck. She stopped not long after she started, placing her hands in her lap shyly. She only looked up when Fred sat next to her, straddling the bench and pulling her into him as George sat next to her on the opposite side. "Stop that." Fred said sternly, wrapping his arms around her. "Stop what?" she asked softly, laying her head against his chest. "Stop thinking that you're less than wonderful." A smile twitched at her lips as she wrapped an arm around his waist and held her hand out to George, who took it between warm fingers and squeezed it gently. She had begun to say something when the door opened and her mother walked in, carrying bags of groceries that George quickly got up to help with. Josie had to wriggle her way out of Fred's grasp, following her mother into the kitchen as she babbled about her adventures buying groceries for dinner.

After an eventful dinner during which her father talked about an elderly witch that had shown her rainbow shifting bloomers to a group of muggle boys and made teapots float around their heads, Fred told of all the weird happenings during Quidditch games at Hogwarts, Josie told about the first time they snuck into Honeydukes, and Jones stole pieces of cheese off Georges plate from his lap, the group took their desert into the living room. Andre lit the fire as her mother curled her legs under her by the fire and the teenagers squished together on the couch. The radio was turned on soon afterwards, the music playing in the background as they finished scraping the cream from their plates and continued talking about her father's job at Frances branch of the ministry. Josie was nested between the two redheaded houseguests, their arms slung across the couch behind her as they snuck glances when her father wasn't looking. He didn't need to know about the three of them just yet. Josie jumped quite violently when her father yelled about the time his coworker had obliterated the wrong persons memory, wiping the memories of the witch rather than the muggle. His loud roar of a voice surprised her so much she almost wound up in Georges lap, and she felt her face heat up when he chuckled, his body close enough that the action blew air across the back of her ear. Her father missed the shudder that rolled down her spine and the look she sent George's way, the melody playing from the radio catching his attention.

Andre and Delephine shared a look before the prior stood up and took the latter's hand, pulling her from her seat and twirling her as the song's first verse started. Josie felt confusion radiating from either side of her as she leaned back into them. "This is "their song"." She clarified, using her fingers in quotations appropriately. "What's it called?" Fred asked quietly, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Uptown Girl, by Billy Joel." She replied, watching her father twirl her embarrassed, flushing mother with a grin. "It's a rule; they have to dance to it whenever it comes on." The three watched, Josie admiring her mother's hair and skirt as it flowed around her gracefully. "Your parents are cool." The twins said together, causing Josie to snort with laughter. "I guess, they've always been like this. I'm used to it."

After a moment of silence, the cushion beside her shifted as George stood, taking her hand and pulling her off the couch. His brother watched with a small smirk as George held out his other hand with a raised brow, and Josie understood what he was doing after a moment of blinking at him in confusion. "You've got to be kidding." She said through a laugh, looking up at him questioningly. "Nope." "Can you even dance?" "Why don't you find out?" Reluctantly, she took his other hand, blushing when he pulled her closer. "I'm terrible at these fast paced songs." Josie muttered. "You're probably a lot better than I am; I've only danced with Ginny and that git."

Josie giggled as he spun her around after gesturing towards his brother, and she swore she caught a glimpse of her mother watching them with a grin as they danced. She looked up at the red-headed boy in front of her, the one who looked back down at her with that devious grin that indented his freckled cheeks with dimples and made her stomach churn nervously. He wasn't half bad at dancing, maybe a little off tempo sometimes but he danced with her like he did it every day, no worry or apprehension appearing in his features when he tugged her closer. She could feel the moisture build up between their hands, but she couldn't tell whose hand was clamming up with nervousness. It had to be hers; George was far too sure of himself and outgoing for something like that. The notion was soon forgotten when he spun her around, perhaps one too many times, and she was stopped in front of Fred. The second Weasley twin bowed deeply and held his hand out to her with an over dramatic flourish, causing Josie to giggle as she took it. He yanked her to him, her chest bumping into his, a small squeak pushed into her throat by the impact.

Fred was obviously much less restrained than George. Anyone who knew them personally would warn you of this in hushed tones shortly after introducing him to you. Fred Weasley wasted no time in swinging her around to the rhythm, Josie almost tripping over her own feet due to his enthusiasm. She was trained to dance traditionally, the lessons paid for by her grandmother for the time she was 10 to the time she was 13. But traditional training only taught her traditional dancing. Josie was better prepared for ballroom dancing than for the swing her mother and father exhibited, or the playful casual dancing Fred knew. So, instead of keeping to the latest trend of breaking away from the mannerisms engraved into her brain, she fell into them once again and let him lead. She was picked up off her feet, his forearm tucking under her behind as he lifted her up, her weight supported against his chest as he spun her around.

The five people danced through a number of songs, Josie shuffled back and forth between the twins through each melody until the night had completely arrived and covered the town in pitch black. The twins had to leave as the fifth song came to its end, Andre turning the radio down and ushering them towards the door. Josie walked with them down to the alleyway while her father helped her mother clean up dinner quickly, a plot her mother surely made to allow them time alone. They stood at the bottom of the stairs; Josie's striped socks contrasting against the dark metal as they glanced between each other. In a moment of bravery, she leaned forward and kissed both of their cheeks, resting her head on their shoulders afterwards to hide her embarrassment and hugging them tightly.

Her chest tightened, anxiety crawling up her ribcage to choke her and prick tears into her eyes as the silence throbbed around them, the realization that she wasn't going to see them again until after the New Year hitting her like a rogue bludger. Josie's eyes were drawn from the cold floor when two hands, each belonging to a different twin, chased away the sadness creeping into her, cupping her cheeks and tilting her face upwards so they both could kiss her gently on each cheek. Their lips sparked fire under her skin, her cheeks flushing dark pink as they pulled away just as her father opened the door on the landing.

"See you at Kings Cross." She stuttered softly, smiling as her father shook the stairs with massive steps as he came down. "See you soon." They said in unison, winking at her as they turned and followed after her father. It wasn't until she was curled up under her comforter with damp hair and puffy eyes, Fred's scarf and George's sweater keeping her warm as Jones pawed at the pillow next to her that she realized the ritual the three had begun, never saying goodbye, always parting with "See you soon". The notion bounced around her mind as she drifted into sleep, replaying the day as she fell into dreams of misadventures at the castle. One thought echoed as she slipped into unconsciousness.  
>Soon, was not soon enough.<p> 


	23. What Lies Waiting Down The Line

**_((Next chapter they'll be at Hogwarts! And something interesting is going to happen...well...exciting, maybe not interesting._**))

Josie woke up at exactly nine thirty every morning with a throbbing headache for the days after the twins left. Each day was spent helping with house work, shopping around with her mother, or laying in her room reading while listening to music. She had been in a constant state of melancholy since the twins went home, their visit leaving her feeling empty rather than joyful. Delephine upon noticing this had compared it to when she stopped eating chocolate. She gave chocolate a clean break, telling herself she was giving it up for days before she actually did. The craving for it was there, she missed it, but it wasn't overwhelming and she could find other things to fill her urges. But then she told herself she was going to have some chocolate soufflé on her birthday, and she looked forward to it but wasn't obsessed with the idea. After she had eaten the chocolate, all she wanted afterwards was more. She craved it so intensely that she broke down and ate an entire chocolate cake a few days later. Josie had stared at her dumbfounded at the explanation, until her mother had clarified. "When you leave something you have strong emotion for the first break can be easy and you get used to not having it, until you get another taste of it that re-sparks the emotion and then it's all you want."

Josie was glad when she began to re-pack her bags with clothes new and old, making sure to have enough for the coming spring and the continuing winter. She dressed up on New Years day, not feeling the pressure to look perfect for this occasion. This holiday was spent at her aunts home, her family spending the day with her father's side of the family. Josie fit in much better with this side of her bloodline. It was the side that introduced her to Hogwarts, where her cousin Paxton called home, and generally was more accepting. Her father lugged her fully re-packed suitcase to the fireplace; her mother glaring at it, upset her daughter was leaving again. But it was easier for her to return to Kings Cross with her cousin than for her parents to make the long trip to London and then back home again.  
>Dressed in a black long skirt, red blouse, boots and her hair braided into a band across the crown of her head, she followed after her father and mother through the floo after kissing Jones on the head and scratching his ear, Georgette hooting softly as the green flames surrounded them. When they died down and her feet touched the soot of the fireplace at the large country house, Josie was pulled into the arms of her aunt, crushed under her bosom. Her aunt Andrea, Andre's older sister, was adorned in a long flowing tunic and tall red boots, two things that matched her personality perfectly. Andrea was a very tall woman with a bright personality, and a very obvious child of the 70's. Her flowing blonde hair was parted very deeply down the middle, curls tumbling down and bouncing as she helped Josie to the guest bedroom, her father trailing behind them with the suitcase. The room she was led to was simple, a rustic wooden bed, peeling white dresser, and a large wall of windows with stained glass panels that flooded the room with color and tinted the flowers that rested on top of the dresser in a mosaic vase. After making sure she had her suitcase in the right place, she followed Andrea back down into the dining room.<p>

Josie's aunt and her mother were two sides of the same coin, almost as if Delephine was meant to be part of their family all along. Each had a love for art and decorating, even though their tastes were much different. Andrea loved all things rustic, earthy and natural, while Delephine loved to be bold but elegant. Josie was left sitting somewhere in the middle; perhaps a ridge on the coin's edge. She watched them set the food for later on the large wooden table in the dining room, comparing the two in her head as they placed ornate plates on the red oak surface. Her mother with her chestnut hair, small elegant features, slim figure, short stature and dark eyes, and then her aunt with blonde wild curls, wide hips, towering height, thick brows, and dark eyelashes surrounding the bright blue eyes that passed through the Desmarias bloodline. Both of them had the striking beauty and strong personality, something Josie believed she had clearly missed when fishing through the gene pool.

It wasn't till hours later that the rest of the family arrived, and Josie was whipped back and forth between cousins, aunts and uncles that all wanted to know about her going to Hogwarts. She was saved by the arrival of Paxton and Emanuel, his father, both large blonde men crushing her in welcome bear hugs. "How's school? Is everyone treating you alright?" Emanuel asked as they sat on the staircase, away from the rest of the party. "Yeah, I mean…of course I have a few people teasing me, but it's much better than Beauxbatons. For me at least." The two spoke softly, Emanuel's deep voice rumbling the still air around them. Josie's uncle was a very quiet but clever man, saying nothing until knowing you and then showing all the charm and wit he had stuck to his sliver tongue. His short blonde hair always looked ruffled, Andre often joked that it was because he was so tall the wind was much wilder around his head due to his height. Emanuel was at least 6'7, wide shoulders and muscular arms balancing out the length of his body so he would not topple over if a strong breeze came by.

"Tell Paxton, he'll help. Where are you being bullied exactly?" He asked as they both watched the mentioned 6th year twirl a pretty girl with patchwork skin to the song on the radio. Paxton's bright green eyes crinkled with a grin, his father's matching set doing the same as his son dipped the girl and kissed her cheek. "Mostly the bathroom, I guess it's pretty easy to pick on someone in a place that's more secluded or when they're vulnerable. I stopped taking baths at regular times to avoid people. I used to be picked on in class, but my… friends have made sure that people don't bother me there." She replied, smiling at the memory of the twins bomb that had been placed in the desk of the rotten girls that teased her along with Marcus Flint, the wooden tops flying open in the middle of class and the two snotty Slytherins revealed as the smoke cleared to be covered in bright orange sludge. "Ask Paxton. Maybe he has a way to get around it." With a wink Emanuel got up and headed towards the kitchen, most likely to flirt with Andrea and sneak food off the party platters. Josie followed after him, and Paxton came in minutes later for drinks, his guest in tow.

It took a moment of Josie looking at them awkwardly for Paxton to realize what was wrong, stopping talking in hushed tones to his father to introduce them. "Oh! Josie, this is Lana, my girl-"Paxton's mother smacked him across the back of the head abruptly, causing him to stop in his tracks. Josie stood dumbfounded as he and his mother shared glances, Emanuel choked on chuckles in a corner, and the girl and Andrea high fived. "Fuck! Significant other, this is my significant other, Lana." Paxton was said quickly, obviously upset with himself as he raked a hand through blonde curls and set his chin on top of his partners head, holding them tight and muttering an apology. "Uhm….what's wrong with girlfriend?" Josie asked moments later, feeling a bit awkward in the tense atmosphere. "Well…I'm non-binary, and my preferred pronouns are gender neutral, like they or significant other…or significant otter." They said with a giggle, their speech slurred with a lisp from the metal braces on their teeth. Paxton had is nose buried in poofy dark curls, blonde streaks matching his own hair, and his hands intertwining with fingers of mixed skin tones. All of their skin was a mix of dark and fair, patches of both covering their body. Josie thought they were very pretty, and that the two older students seemed to fit together nicely.

The three Hogwarts students squeezed into a corner behind the food table close enough to eat what they wanted but far enough not to be in the way. Josie learned that Lana was a Hufflepuff, that they had been dating Paxton since the end of their 5th year, and that Lana's interesting skin color was caused by vitiligo. The teenagers had talked for a long while, Josie avoiding the subject of her self for as long as she possibly could. "Josie, is Hogwarts going alright?" Paxton's question made her wince, blue eyes looking up at his green pair. She could tell he was going to lead into something, the worried look on his face revealing his intention. "Its fine." "No bullies or anything?" "Not at a-" "I know about Flint and the girls in the bathroom." Josie sighed, rolling her eyes. "Its fine. My friends and I handled Flint."

Paxton smirked a bit, looking down his crooked nose at her. "I know. I heard Marcus ranting about it, and I know about what the Weasley's did to those two girls. That's not what I'm worried about." Her ears started to burn with embarrassment, her eyes downcast. "The twins can't help you in the girls bathroom…at least, I hope they can't. Not exactly the best place for flirtatious advancement. " He chuckled, and Josie flushed as her eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah, I know. It's not hard to tell. I know how to tell when something is going on. I've been through it enough." "Well excuse me doctor love." Josie muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Anyway, about the girls in the bathroom. You could always use a different bathroom." "There is no different bathroom besides the ones out of the tower, and those aren't exactly meant to bathe in." "You could always use the prefect's bathroom." Paxton answered with a crooked grin.

Josie was stunned for a moment, not fully understanding what he was saying. She sighed deeply when she realized what he was insinuating. "And you could stop being a prefect if you let me in there." She said, leaning against the wall. "If you go in there at odd times, no-one is going to be in there. I'll just give you the password and you can use it as you please. But if anyone catches you and tries to get you in trouble, say you overheard some students talking about it. And make sure those students aren't me." Paxton offered, oozing with pride in his idea.

Josie thought about it. The idea wasn't a bad one, it was actually quite good. It was so good that Josie found herself slipping a piece of parchment with the password written on it into her school bag before scuttling back downstairs to watch it turn midnight. She watched the multiple couples pull their significant others into New Year kisses, Paxton picking Lana up and twirling her, Andre chastely kissing Delephine at the corner of the mouth, and she felt a pang of sadness inside her as she thought of the twins  
>Hopefully they would stick around long enough for her to receive a dual kiss next year.<p> 


	24. If You Want To Play

_**((Happy delayed Valentines day!))**_

The morning Josie was to head back to Hogwarts was a whirlwind. The stained light filtered in through the windows into the guest bedroom as the sun rose into the sky, Josie already wide awake, showed and dressed to leave, her uniform packed in her school bag and Georgette in her cage. She double checked that her gifts from New Year's that she was taking with her were all in her suitcase, looking under the bed in case one of the cards from her chocolate frogs had fallen. She gave all of them she got to the twins, and all the ones they had no use for to their younger brother, Ron.

Paxton ate a very large breakfast, while Josie ate nothing at all, her stomach fluttering from nervousness. Andrea packed Paxton and Josie large sandwiches for lunch on the way there, making sure to give Josie an apple in case she got hungry before then due to her lack of breakfast. Emanuel made sure both students had everything they needed, slipping an extra six galleons into each of their pockets when his wife wasn't looking. One by one they filed into the fireplace, each disappearing to Diagon Alley. Paxton went first, followed by Emanuel, leaving the two women in the living room together. Josie was just about to grab a handful of floo power when Andrea caught her arm, sets of blue eyes meeting as Andrea's red lips turned into a smile.

"Josephine, I'm very proud of you. I've been begging Andre to send you to Hogwarts since you were eight. Paxton says that the school was in a hushed uproar when you transferred, but I suppose that's just how teenagers are when something new shows up." She said, Josie looking at the ground awkwardly. She felt Andrea crouch down, back into view, and averted her eyes. She wasn't in the mood for a heart to heart at the moment; her heart was longing to be somewhere else. "Keep them in an uproar. As soon as thoughts of you disappear from their minds, kick them in the face with something fantastically new." Josie looked up at her aunt at this, smiling a little bit. "You have every reason to be important, and you have it in you to be the first spark of the fireworks soon to come." She smiled and patted her hand, returning to her towering height to nudge Josie into the fireplace. "By the way, the Weasley twins are a good choice. Paxton ranted about them for days when the kicked his ass in their first Quidditch match." With that, Josie disappeared into the green flames, cheeks pink with embarrassment. Her mother was going to get an earful...or at least a very long and strongly worded letter.

The four ran into Florrish and Blots to grab extra quills and parchment before arriving at Kings Cross with a half-hour to spare, grabbing warm drinks at a muggle café before heading through the barrier. Josie handed her suitcase and Georgette's cage off to be put into the storage cars, and stood against the wall with Paxton and his family to wait. Lana appeared soon after they settled their backs against the bricks, followed by their parents. Lana's parents quickly fell into a conversation with Andrea, talking excitedly about their children and the latest news. Their significant other wrapped his arms around Lana, shoving his hands into the pockets of their ripped jeans and setting his chin on top of their head. Josie shrunk into the wall, holding her bag close to her and watching the crowd. Soon enough she was nudged into the crowd towards the train, Emanuel hugging her tight and Andrea kissing her cheeks before wishing her goodbye. She hadn't seen any of her friends at all, so she climbed onto the train behind Paxton, moving through the cars until she found someone familiar. When stepping into one of the back cars, she immediately heard Lee Jordan's voice yelling excitedly down the hallway. She smiled, holding herself steady as the train jerked to a start before she headed towards the sound. Josie stopped when she could hear what they were talking about, not being able to help herself from listening when she heard them mention a "her".

"You were right there and you didn't do anything! What the FUCK is wrong with you? Did you have any contact at all, or did you don your cornette's and revert back to abstinence? Hot girl, plus boys she likes, minus supervision, should equal SOMETHING." Lee was yelling, obviously annoyed with someone. Josie had a feeling they were talking about her, but wasn't sure what Lee was fully implying. She decided to go in and save the poor souls she knew were in there, stepping into view and sliding open the door. Lee Jordan looked at her with wide eyes, clamping his mouth shut in the middle of an obscenity before looking at the twins. Fred and George were almost in the floor laughing, hollering about the hilarious look on Lee's face. She waited until they calmed down to sit herself in between them, the thought of what their conversation had been punted from her mind as the twins went into the very detailed story of how they covered Percy's entire room with wrapping paper and hidden his glasses under it somewhere in the room. She thought she caught the twins rake their eyes over her, from her red flats and dark tights to her cream knit sweater, but her mind was surely playing tricks on her. _They wouldn't do that, they're not as desperate for contact as I am. _

The four friends arrived back at Hogwarts hours later, after a ride consisting of much talking, Lee getting every bad Bertie Botts Bean in a row, the twins stuffing the chocolate frog cards they didn't want into a box to explode onto Ron, and Josie falling asleep on Fred's shoulder. She woke up to her stomach growling painfully, having forgotten to eat her lunch due to excitement. "I think our girlfriend is half dragon Georgie." Fred said jokingly as they got up to change into their uniforms, Josie's stomach growling loudly as she stood up. Lee disappeared after going into the next car to change, leaving to chase after the sweets trolley, and letting the three of them have time alone.

"If you don't get over here I'm going to breath fire." She muttered, grabbing Fred by his shirt. She faltered when his eyebrows raised in surprise, stopping short of yanking him down to release the pent up desire she'd had to be around them. Doubt tickled her mind, her palms becoming damp with nerves. She felt his breath of laughter under her knuckles, his head tilting as her towered over her. "Well, go on then." He said softly, his voice dropping in pitch like it always did when he got more excited or devious than usual. Josie's stomach twisted, a spark tingling its way through every nerve and her heart picking up in rhythm. He was challenging her, and she was accepting it. She fisted her hands in his sweater and pulled him down to meet her lips, kissing him deeply enough to clash her teeth against his, a soft whimper crawling up her throat. Seconds later she was turning into George's chest and taking his jaw between her fingers to crush her lips into his. He grunted softly, triggering a very quiet moan from her as she caught his lips between hers. They broke apart moments later, Fred and George trapping her between them long enough for them to gruffly mutter "You should do that more often." Before leaving her alone in the cabin to change like the gentlemen they are.

Josie was shocked; the gravity of what she had just done settling in her mind as she flushed scarlet and sat on the seat to take a second to slow down her breathing and allow the throbbing in her pelvis to die down. She quickly changed into her uniform, folding her clothes and tucking them into her bag as the boys walked back in. Lee came back with caldron cakes for each of them, Josie almost tackling him in joy because he got her something to eat, the sandwich and apple forgotten in her bag until after dinner that night when it was eaten while finishing an essay she had forgotten in the wee hours of the morning.

A week or so later they had fallen back into their normal behavior, the twins back at Quidditch practice, Josie back to watching them, and all four of them back to being buried in homework most nights. The argument she had overheard Lee having with the twins began to dwell in her mind, the lack of physical contact between her and the twins worrying her. _Maybe they're second guessing liking me._ She thought one night when they had all gathered in the boy's dormitory, Josie sitting on the floor in front of Fred's bed as she finished deciphering ancient runes. Her mind was focused on her homework, wanting it get it done as soon as possible, but could not help but pick up the three boys in the room talking in hushed tones. Blue eyes glanced up at them, catching Lee's dark eyes as she quirked an eyebrow. He grinned innocently before returning to muttering something into Fred and Georges ears. Josie was lulled back into boredom when she went back to her work, hardly noticing Lee move to search around his bed.

"Oh bloody hell!" Lee's obscenity caused Josie to jump, nearly knocking over her ink well as she turned to look at him tear his bed apart. "I forgot one of my books in Lupin's classroom. If I don't finish that charms paper by tomorrow Flitwick is going to hang me from the chandelier by my toes." "Why don't you just borrow one of our books?" Josie asked, closing her ink well and standing up. "My paper is in my book!" Lee yelled, grabbing Georges arm. "I'm going to get it and George; you're coming with me so Filch doesn't catch me and skin me alive." With that and a confusingly pointed look at Fred, he disappeared out the door, dragging George behind him.

The air in the room became suddenly tense, and Josie could feel Fred's eyes boring into the back of her neck. Josie bent back down to roll up her Ancient Runes homework and place it back into her bag, glancing at Fred as she put away her quill and ink. He was looking down at one of his text books, long fingers rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as fiddled with his quill. Ginger hair swung into eyes that seemed to be staring at nothing, his brow furrowed and jaw tight. Caught up in admiring her boyfriend, Josie didn't realize he had raised his eyes to look at her, chuckling when he caught her staring. Josie realized too late that she had been found out, not having time to turn away blushing before he spoke.

"Hey, can you come help me with this?" She blinked, standing up slowly before moving to stand by his bed side, looking at his work. "What is it?" She asked softly, her hands folded behind her back. "Astrology, due tomorrow." "You know I'm terrible at Astrology." "You're loads better than I am." He replied with a grin, leaning back on his palms as she sat next to him. Tucking her hair behind her ear as she looked over his paper, she found he had already done all of the constellations assigned. "What exactly do you need help with?" she asked, turning to find him closer to her than before, her shoulder almost against his chest. "Just hoping you could help me see the stars more clearly. But perhaps I should be the one helping you see stars."

She was stuck on what was just said when he pressed his lips against hers, her eyes fluttering closed when he didn't pull away moments later, his lips moving slowly against hers as he shifted his work from his lap onto the bed. The skin at her waist dipped in as he gripped it, turning her body to press against his chest as he leaned into her and tilted his head to deepen the kiss. She had to pull away for air, her cheeks and lips flushed from exertion. Breathy laughter escaped her throat when she fully realized what he had said earlier, her brain catching up to his actions. "That was absolutely terrible." She muttered, giggling as she looked into his eyes. They burned back into hers, the corners crinkling as he grinned. "But it worked." He said as his tongue darted out to wet his lips as his eyes dropped to glance at hers, flushed and caught between her teeth. The look he gave her was enough to send fire down her spine to the tips of her toes and her heart to pick up rapidly. Her small hands gripped his tie and pulled him to her, her lips finding his. They kissed fiercely, Fred getting to his knees to lean over her. He pulled back when she was panting, breaking the kiss long enough to softly ask "Is this alright?" and hear her approval before crawling over her, his arms on either side of her shoulders and one of his thighs nestled between hers.

Her heart threatened to break out of her ribcage, beating so loudly that it thudded in her ears, almost drowning out the sound of their breath mixing. Her gasp broke through the rhythm as he ran his tongue over her lips before slipping it between them when they opened. He chuckled when she didn't react by moving her tongue against his, instead allowing him to have control. The shudder that ran though him when a soft moan vibrated the back of her throat only amplified the tingles that were running through each nerve she had. His hair tickled her cheeks as she sank further into his pillow, his weight shifting when he moved to set a hand on her hip, gripping it tightly as she flicked her tongue against his and slid her fingers up the back of his neck to tangle into his hair.

His chest flexed under her fingers when he pulled back, a trail of saliva linking their lips, broken when he smirked at her. Kissing her lips gently and tucking hair behind her ear, he set his forehead against hers and waited for his breathing to settle down. "I reckon they'll be coming back soon." He said softly, stroking his thumb across her jaw as they looked at each other. "Oui, I guess it has been quite a while." She answered, watching him sit up. She couldn't hardly move, blood rushing through her veins and a certain area of her body throbbing frustratingly.

Lee and George appeared minutes later, after Josie had sat up and fixed her clothing and hair, catching her and Fred in the middle of looking at each other admiringly, her face etched with the desire she was feeling. The three gathered their things, Josie's legs shaking as they headed out of the dormitory and up to the Astronomy tower for class.


End file.
